


You're Worth Protecting

by Kpala



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Adult Steven, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Drinking, F/F, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Anxiety problems, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Peridot plays basketball, Sexual Content, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, Well she used to :/, cliche alert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2018-07-23 16:12:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 56,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7470342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kpala/pseuds/Kpala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>19 year old Peridot recently moved in with her childhood friend Jasper after coming back from a depressing 6 month trip to Empire City. Her goal in life is to finish college being a masters in IT, and rub it in her friends faces. But her studies and hobbies go off track when Japser's girlfriend crashes into her life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Cup Of Coffee

**Author's Note:**

> *EXTERNAL SCREAMING*  
> HOLY SMOKES THIS IS MY FIRST FANFIC IN AO3.
> 
> I PLAN ON MAKING THIS A LONGER SERIES SO BUCKLE YOURSELVES IN FOR A RIDE ON THE LAPIDOT TRAIN! 
> 
> BTW IF YOU SEE SOMETHING WRONG, DONT BE SCARED GIMME SOME CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM!
> 
> -Kpala  
> Enjoy!

_Its the final seconds of the fourth quarter. The Beach City Bears are down by three going against the Lake Town Seagulls. Citrine Thompson is at the free throw line, knocking both of them down. This makes the Bears down by 1. Its the Seagulls possesion, as they call a timeout. The timeout is short, but it was stressful as all hell. The coach yelling in the point guards ear, telling her to call a play to steal the ball. Beads of sweat ran down their temples and down their neck. The buzzer sounded, it was the_ end _of their 30 second time out. Peridot let out a deep breath and walked back onto the court, hands behind her head, going in the center of the court and in her position._

_The other team had possesion as their point guard dribbled the ball toward the other side of the court, trying to waste the clock. Yelling could be heard from her teammates as they were executing the play. It went silent for a second, as she knew it was settled. She was face to face with Opal Cook, eye to eye. Though, Opal was slightly taller, Peridot puffed up her chest to intimidate her. Peridot kept her eye on the dribbling ball and poked it out of her hand. It dribbled off to the center of the court and she ran after it. Picking it up and running for her life to the other end of the court._

_She couldn't hear anything. It was all blocked out by the sound of her heavy breathing and heart pounding. The crowd went up to their feet and cheered, but she couldn't hear any of that. She took a quick glance behind her to look at the rest of the players, the were jogging after her, not really trying. The basket neared her, and her heart beat faster. Adrenaline rushed threw her veins as she leaped off the floor, and banked the ball into the basket off the board. This was it. Her team would win Beach County Championship Finals._

_The nice swish of the net gave joy to Peridot's ears, as her feet grounded on the court. Her heart settled as the opposing team caught up and retrieved the ball in disappointment. Her teammates were ran up to her in a dog pile chanting her name. But there was still 5 seconds on the clock. They went back to their positions as the Seagulls gained possesion. The crowd went dead silent when they ran to the other side if the court._

_3..2....1....._

_The ball shot out of Opal's hands quickly, and she was off blance, being guarded by Citrine._

_It hit the backboard and into the net._

Peridot was gasping for air as she shot up from her bed. Pulling on her hair, trying to grab reality. The room was dark, and her vision was limited since her glasses weren't in use. Her breathing slowed down as she put her hands into her lap. 

"Fuck.." Peridot sighed out with the last amount of breath she had. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck meeeee!" She started kicking her blankets off her body and fell back onto the bed. That is until she shot back up into a sitting position when she heard loud footsteps right outside the door. 

It creaked opened, revealing a bright light and a tall, big woman rubbing her eyes. Her hair was pinned up in a bun, and she had a face mask. "What the hell Peridot, its fucking 2 in the morning." She complained groggily. 

"Sorry, I just had another nightmare." Peridot's voice growled in a raspy tone. The bigger woman neared her, and sat at the edge of her bed. "Whaaat...did Dotty have another nightmare about snakes." She teased, putting her clasped hands next to her cheeks. Peridot  kicked Jasper in annoyance.

"No, and fuck you. And why the hell is that goop on your face, that makes you look like Shrek." Peridot put a shit eating grin on her face.

Jasper put her hand in front of her face, waving it in a circular motion. "This.. is to make your skin beautiful, unlike you." Jasper stood up from the bed, dusting her shirt off. She then turned to Peridot. "By the way, your bags are still downstairs, you left them there before coming in here and passing out on the bed." She said, walking to the door.

"You can't blame me, all that moving back in here is really tiring. Besides, since we both live here in the apartment, we won't need to communicate through Skype anymore." Peridot fell back on her bed, letting a sigh of relief escape her mouth. She opened one eye to peek at Jasper who was smiling.

"Im glad you're back in Beach City, P." Jasper said, before stepping out if the room anfd closing the door. Peace and quiet. The blonde closed her eyes slowly and was left alone with her thoughts.

It was quiet the ride for the past year. With her going to Empire City to visit her parents for 6 fucking months. It was dreadful, but she made it out alive. She took the plane to Empire City right after she graduated highschool. Although Peridot was relieved to leave some of her problems behind, her relationships with her friends made it hard. Steven, one of her closest friends, was the one who made it harder to leave. He planned to attend college with her, along with four of her other close friends. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were their names. Peridot would always rely on them since she moved in with Jasper for the first time about 4 years back. When Peridot came home grieving after their Finals loss about a year ago, they comforted her by playing some COD. 

She remembered they stayed up until sunrise like it was yesterday. But then....Peridot got an urgent call from her family in Empire City. They told her to come over immediately. She was never really close to her family, that was because they were involved in dirty buisness. Gambling.Scamming. And a whole lot of killing. Getting that call was almost like getting called over to hell for a cup of tea with the devil. Eventually, she had to leave. Knowing that she would miss her friends very much since they were they only other family she had. 

But not anymore.Not since she moved back in with Jasper. She wanted to see her friends. Give them a big hug and tell them how depressing it was. But that was all in Peridot's mind. She wouldn't have the courage to tell them what happened over there. She did tell Jasper though, since she knew her for about 15 years. Peridot still remebered when she first met that meat head.

Back in kindergarten when Peridot was working on an arts and crafts activity, Jasper destroyed her macaroni neckalace with her bare hands by accident.

Jasper wasn't aware of her strength when she held Peridot's neckalce in her hands, so she crushed it. Jasper wouldn't stop apologizing, and that led her to tears. Peridot was suprised that such a big tough girl like her, was so soft in the inside. Peridot forgave her, and made Jasper her own macaroni neckalace. Since then, it just clicked.

It went from play dates in the park, to playing knights in their houses. The teddy bear Jasper had would be the princess. Peridot remembered very vividly they would fight for the princess' hand in marriage. 

Peridot smiled slightly at this memory.

Then it went to wrestling matches that Jasper would always win. And finally, RPG games they would play online with her. Good ol' days. But now was as good as before. Japser likes to drink, but Peridot was very tolerant to alcohol. They were 16 when they had their first taste of alcohol. Peridot repelled from it, while Jasper was a sucker for it. This led her throwing up on the sidewalk on their way home from a party.

Peridots smile grew even bigger on her face, eyes still closed trying to remember.

The girl ran her pale fingers through her fluffy blonde hair. She sat up and stretched her arms and legs in all directions, letting out a moan that isn't supposed to sound sexual. Her bare feet touched the beige carpet floor as she pushed herself off the bed, almost losing balance. She groggily stumbled her way through the dark, trying to find the light switch. Once she did, she was blinded by the lights. Peridot squinted her eyes, now trying to find her glasses. Blindly looking for it like a bat, she felt temples that might belong to her glasses. The blonde then picked it up and perched it up on the nose of her bridge. Her eyesight then adjusting to the effect of the glasses.

"Much better, now time to find my phone." Peridot mumbled to herself, lifting the bedsheets and shaking it to see if her phone will drop out of it.

A object flew out of the covers and landed onto the floor.Her phone. She quickly ran to it, making sure it didn't crack. Because if it did, she would go ballistic and set the room on fire. Thats how mad she would be. But it wasn't luckily. She let out a a sigh of relief and turned it on.

The lockscreen wallpaper was a pic of her and Jasper when they were in their freshman year of highschool. Jasper wearing a tanktop with her white frizzy hair all over the place. And Peridot, her blonde hair up in a triangular style, wearing a t-shirt that said Bad Bitch on it. Peridot entered her password which was her username in COD. "Peridorito1997." She mumbled her password while typing it. She really should stop her habit of doing that, increasing the rate of someone snooping in her phone.

It unlocked and the home wallpaper was a group picture of her and her basketball team. The Beach City Bears. Ever since they lost the finals, Peridot never really joined another team. But she would go and practice in the park court every now and then. She could never get herself to quit  the sport because it meant so much to her childhood growing up. Waking up on weekends to go practice with Jasper in the park was a routine for 10 yr old Peridot. Staying there for hours before coming home covered in sweat and dirt. Her mother would scold her, but her father was proud as fuck.

She tapped on the messaging app and started texting Amethyst.

**Clod: Hey you awake?**

**MiTorta: Yeah, just finished a round with Pearl ;)**

Amythest then sent a picture along with the message. Pearl was sleeping while Amethyst was grinning like the devil. She looked sweaty.

**Clod: you're fucking disgusting.**

**MiTorta: Why are you up the early anyway? Did you have a round with Jasper ;)**

**Clod: No dumbass, we're not friends with benefits. I just had a nightmare and now I can't sleep.**

**MiTorta: Again with the snakes P?**

**Clod: NO NOT THE SNAKES! IT WAS JUST ONE TIME AMETHYST!**

**MiTorta: Relax P, oh btw, has Japser told you about her girlfriend?**

Peridot's expression went to confusion before she started typing again.

**Clod: No....? Who is it?**

**MiTorta: You'll see ;)**

**Clod: Stop with the winky faces, its making me incredibly uncomfortable.**

**MiTorta: Oh gtg Pearl woke up and she wants a second round .**

**Clod:Disgusting .**

**MiTorta: ur just jealous cuz i get pussy.**

Peridot had enough and turned her phone off. "So Jasper has a girlfriend now huh?" She said with saltiness in her voice. The blonde was pissed that Jasper never mentioned she had a girlfriend. But then again, she shouldn't be nosy in peoples' business. Peridot definitely didn't want to end up like Pearl. 

Walking toward the door, Peridor heard a voice outside. Jasper was talking to someone, but she didn't know who. 

"Are you sure your roommate is asleep, I don't really wanna bother her." The voice was serious, but it had a calming tone at the same time. 

"Yeah, she should be asleep by now." Jasper spoke, reassuring the other.

"O-Okay...." the voice was nervous.

She heard a door closing, supposedly Jasper's room. Peridot started thinking.

NOPE NOPE NOPE NO SEX NOOOO!!!

She quickly busted the door open, making as much noise as possible to interrupt whatever the two where up to. And started stomping down the stairs, practically being a giant. Peridot grew a grin on her face, snickering in troublesome. By the time she reached the bottom of the hardwood floor stairs, she waited for something to happen. And something did happen. 

 A door creaking could be heard upstairs, as well as loud footsteps running down the hall and down the stairs. Heheheheheheh. Just as planned. Jasper ran down the stairs to meet Peridot's eyes. She looked nervous and mad at the same time.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jasper said in a whisper yell, as if she didn't wake up the neighbors with her loud footsteps.

"Oh nothing, just grabbin my bags!" She plastered a very fake smile on her face before grabbing her luggage and duffel bag of from the floor, still looking at Jasper's annoyed face.

"Will you just go to sleep?" The bigger woman whined, sliding her hand down her face in frustration. She would take quick glances up the stairs.

Peridot shook her head, a devilish  grin replaced the fake smile. Jasper narrowed her eyes to look at the grinning Peridot.

"Sorry Jaspywaspy, I can't seem to find sleep. Looks like I have to stay up ALL morning now."

"No um..I mean okay whatever!" Jasper's eyes twitched. She then turned around stiffly and marched up the stairs. Peridot followed, her grin disappeared.

"Why are you following me?" Jasper turned her head, her voice cracking.

"To meet you're girlfriend,of course. You know, the one you never told me about!" Peridots expression looked as if she belonged in a mental asylum. Smiling but her eyes were the exact opposite.

"How did you-"

Peridot waved her phone around.

"Amethyst texted me. Yet you never spoke a word about it." Her hands fell to her sides, looking at Jasper in disappointment.

"Look I can-"

" Jasper we can't keep things like this away from eachother. You even brought her here without telling me! What if I thought she was a burglar and shot her in the face!" Peridot gestured her hands to shoot a gun.

"Peri, you're overreacting, look, I am sorry from the bottom of my heart I didn't tell you. I was going to tomorrow because you looked exhausted." Jasper's voice was deep and serious. Her eyes were solemn in apology.

Peridot let out a sigh. How could she not forgive this charming meathead. She pat her on the back quite roughly and looked up at the 6'5 giant woman.

"Whatever asshole." The blonde never meant what she said. She always called Jasper an asshole, it was 'friendly'. The buff one smiled sweetly before running back up the stairs out of Peridot's sight. The door slammed shut. 

Peridot started mumbling to herself on the couch. Totally normal.

"Girlfriend huh? Who would wanna date a brute like Jasper? Heh...another brute thats who. The girl she's dating is probably 6 feet or taller, buff and stud, looking exactly like Jasper."

Peridot then thought about two Jaspers kissing eachother.Having a conversation.

"You look lovely today Jasper!" One would say.

"You too Jasper, lets make out and have Jasper babies." Jasper replied.

Peridot broke out laughing hysterically having the thought of that happening. She hoped that this doesn't make her crazy. It is 3 an after all, people act like this all the time this early. Wait. 

The blonde looked up at the clock again and whisper yelled,"3 am!?"

"In gonna be so exhausted tomorow...." she gloomed in a raspy voice. She leg her head rest on the top of the couch, closing her eyes.

"Who eats Krabby Patties at 3 in the morning?" Peridot whispered under her breath.

"Oh boy 3 am!" she replied to herself, laughing like a little girl.

"Hehehe-" The blonde's eyes shut midway of her laugh as she passes out on the couch.

Sunlight hits Peridot's eyelids as they slowly open. The living room was now bright. Peridot gained her consciousness and rubbed her tired eyes. She stood up from the seat, back aching, knees popping. Stretching, the girl looked around the room. Still the same before she left, although things are moved around a bit. The brown armchair that was on the right side of the room is now on the left. The TV is a Samsung instead of a Sony, and some pictures on the walls were removed. She was too lazy to try and remember what pictures were taken off.

Grabbing her bags and bringing up to the room, she noticed Jasper's door was open. Peridot ignored it and went into her room, no different from when she left it. Her bed against the left wall was neon green with black covers. The trophies she won years ago were still on her shelf. Video game DVD cases right next to her computer monitor remained untouched. Ps4 and Xbox 360 lay in front of her flat screen TV, untouched and dusty. Pictures of her were on the wall, one being her absolute favorite.

It was taken right when Peridot was in the middle of shooting a ball.Her body was in perfect shooting form, the ball still in her palm and her feet levitating off the court. She thought that this picture must've been hard to take since her release was quick. But it was Garnet who took it. She is a freak about photography and is planning to study it in college.

College. 

It blasted into Peridots mind that the coronation for Beach State University is in a couple days. She punched her brain for forgetting about that. The girl forgot to buy a uniform from the college when she visited. Oh well, she thought, might as well buy one today.

Peridot placed her bags right next to her bed to dig for clothes. Her style wasn't flashy or girly. More like teenager lesbian was what radiated off of her clothes. And it was. She took out a green flannel, black jeans, and a shirt that said 'DETERMINATION' with little pixel hearts to replace the dots on the i's. Not to forget underwear.

After stepping out of the shower and doing everything she needed to do in the morning, she was ready. For what? Peridot didn't know why she got ready, she wasn't going anywhere. Oh thats right....Jasper. 

Quickly walking down the hallway to the brute's room, she slowly creaked the door open. Anything but Jasper was in there. An unfamiliar sleeping girl in Jaspers bed. From her chin up, her skin was a nice tan, her hair was chin length and dark blue. How emo.

The blonde was in shock as her jaw slacked. Why did Jasper leave  _her_ here. Peridot didn't want anything to do with the girl, and she probably wouldn't want anything to do with her either. But she had to wake her up. Or-or else she might end up doing crazy shit while she's gone. Like steal Peridot's Ps4. What a nightmare.

Tiptoe....by window...., Peridot sang in her head as she carefully tiptoed by the window. She neared the sleeping girl, caught in a trance by how pretty she looked while she slept. Her mouth slightly ajar, her eyelashes long and shining, and her hair....prettyyyyyy. Then it all snapped at Peridot as she remembered that this is Jasper's girlfriend she is looking at.

Gently tapping the sleeping girl's shoulder, the touch almost electrifying. Quickly retracting her arm when the girl moves in her sleep. Taking a closer look, her eyes are still shut. Peridot let out a sigh and worked her courage. Grabbing her shoulder and shaking her, but not too hard.

"Hey, random person, wake up." She said deadpan.

And so they did. The bluenette's eyes slowly opened, but widened when she saw this tall blonde stranger kneeling on the side of her bed. She quickly jumped to the over side of the bed, back against the wall, holding the blanket up to the chest. Her eyes darted around the room, then realizing it belongs to Jasper. She then locks in a gaze with the blonde.

"Um..you're Peridot right? Jasper told me about you. She said you're a total dork." The girl spoke in a tone Peridot found offensive.

"Is that how you greet people? You must not have alot of friends, stranger." Peridot cheekily said, eyes narrowed. The girl returned the look, but her eyes softened after a couple seconds.

"Its Lapis, and no I do have friends, you're probably talking about yourself." She said, looking away.

Peridot sighed in irritation and tried her best not to punch this girl in the face. She stood up from her kneeling position and put her hands on her hips, shaking her head. "Are you gonna get up or what. I can't leave you here all day by yourself, so might as well go back to wherever you live." She gestured her hands on the last part.

"First of all, I'm naked under these damn sheets.Second, I live in a dorm thank you very much." Lapis snapped at Peridot, making her raise an eyebrow. The taller girl bent down to pick something and rose it in the air, holding in between her index finger and thumb. 

"Is this yours?" The blonde asked in disgust, holding a pink lingerie.

Lapis quickly snatched it out of Peridot's hand and nodded.

"Do you have a thing for panties, Peridork?" Testing the nerves of the blonde, whos cheeks are rosy red as she clicks her tounge in annoyance.

Peridot storms out of the room and slams the door shut in anger. Her face is red hot and her ears are steaming like a train. She is internally screaming yelling," FUCKKK THAT BEYOTCH FUCKING KNOWN ME FOR 2 MINUTES! WHAT RIGHT DOES SHE HAVE TO TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!?"

The tall girl lets out a sigh, tugging on the side of her flannel. Finally finishing her tantrum, she jogs down the stairs to make some coffee. She plans on talking to the girl and introducing herself properly instead of yelling in eachothers faces. A squeaking noice could be heard the floor above, that means someone is using the bathroom. Peridot browses through Tumblr looking at fan art and ESPN posts. Light footsteps catches her attention as she brings her head up to look at Lapis. Peridot shoves her phone in her pocket, and pours herself a cup coffee. Just black. Thats how she liked it. Lapis just stands there, watching the taller girl take a sip of coffee. Then the silence is broken.

"Want some?" Peridot hold out the mug in the air, smiling nicley as she could. She was terrible at being friendly. Lapis just looks at Peridot. This is making Peridot very uncomfortable.

"Okay...not into coffee I guess." Her voice deepens further into the sentence before taking another sip of the coffee. Lapis' arms are crossed, she's leaning against the door frame with an expression on her face that reminded her of a grouchy cat. Peridot could almost feel a bead of sweat roll down her neck. Akward.

Before Peridot could turn to pour herself more coffee, Lapis spoke in a raspy but friendly tone. But her face looked anything but friendly.

"They told me alot about you." Lapis started, but her eyes did not meet Peridot's. They were instead staring out of the window. 

"Who did?" Peridot knew exactly who, but she just wanted to make sure the were talking about the same people. Who knows? Maybe she could be talking about some stalkers that watch her.

"You know." Lapis turned her head to look at the emerald green eyes Peridot had. Lapis found it a very exciting and beautiful color to look at. She realized she was staring when Peridot snapped her fingers to grab her attention away from her eyes.

"Peridot to Lazuli do you copy?" She put on a barely audible astronaut voice as she said it into a cupped hand over her mouth. Lapis grew aware and started blushing. She nodded, she turned her head back to look at the window. It sure was windy, even for the fall season. Peridot cleared her throat to grab her attention, but Lapis's eyes remained glued to the window. She didn't care, she spoke anyways.

"What did they tell you? That i'm a huge dork?" Peridots tried not to sound like a jerk.

Lapis shook her head. Then nodded.

"Yes. But they also told me you were going to attend BSU as well." Her lips couldn't help but smirk when she said that.

Peridot hummed in agreement as she took another sip from her mug. Letting out a refreshed exhale before speaking .

"The entire squad will attend the college. You met them already?" she asked leaning against the kitchen counter. Lapis nodded before getting up from her leaning position and sat in a stool right across the kitchen counter. "Jasper introduced me to them. They're pretty cool. Especially Steven, he refers to me as his Beach Summer Fun Buddy." She pressed her thumb against her chest, closing her eyes being cocky.

"Well, just so you know....i'm Steven's All Year Round buddy." Peridot pressed a thumb against her chest, mimicking Lapis. Lapis scoffs.

"Well, you weren't there to experience the summer with Steven. Oh wait, I did." Lapis put a dirty grin. 

"I've known Steven for over 4 years!" Peridot threw her hands in the air, hoping nothing else Lapis was going to say was better than a four year friendship.

"Well...." Lapis leaned over the table, grabbing the scruff of Peridot's flannel and pulling her in. Their face inches away from each other before Lapis spoke. "I fucked him." She said in a serious deep tone that sent chills up Peridot's spine. Lapis gave another shit eating grin before letting go of Peridot, making her bounce back up like a spring. Peridot was in shock.

"How-wha-he has a-"

"Im just teasing ya dumbass." Lapis poked Peridot's shoulder."Were just friends. Not with any benefits." She winked and stood up from the stool.

Peridots jaw hang ajar, her eyes followed Lapis as she walked toward the door. "Sorry man, gotta go. Maybe we can chat again." Lapis said that without turning to look at Peridot. "Oh and by the way.."

Peridot's eyes widened to hear what Lapis wanted to say.  Lapis walked back to Peridot. The blonde backed up, but realized the other girl just went to grab the coffee pot. She poured some into a green mug she took from one of the cabinets. She took a sip whole looking at Peridot the whole time. The taller girl felt her face get hot. Was she...turned on?

Lapis set the mug on the counter. 

"Thanks for the cup of coffee. Maybe we can go have some  _real_ coffee next time."

Peridot at this point was about to explode when she found out she was rereferring to sex. Her eyes bounced back from Lapis, to the coffee, and back to Lapis as she was leaving the room. "Stop blushing. I was just teasing you dork."

The conversation fully ended when Peridot heard the front door open and shut almost immediately. The blonde girl looked at the coffee mug Lapis just drank out of. She slid her fingers through the handle and took a sip. What the hell just happened. 


	2. Show her my sweet?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot and her friends finally see each other again and Lapis learns a little bit more about Peridot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really liked the positive reviews last chapter! Thank you guys so much.
> 
> Im super sorry that this chapter is really short. I just wanted to make this a quick intro to the lapidot about to happen soon ;)
> 
> Im planning to make their relationship a slow growing one instead of mashing their faces together out of nowhere.

Where the hell was she supposed to pick up the uniforms?

Peridot twirled in all directions, trying to find a building that said "UNIFORMS" on it. Yes, there was a specific building just for retrieving uniforms. 

The blonde groaned in frustration and ran her fingers through her hair. She had to keep looking around or else she won't be able to show up to the coronation properly. Peridot saw a couple of people walking down the campus, but not too many. At this time if day, they would be in classes. She looked up at a certain brick building.

SUCCESS. 

The bell hung from the door jingled, welcoming Peridot in. She didn't like the concept of bells on doors. Whenever she would try to walk in a store unnoticed, the bell would just say 'fuck you' and jingle away. Drawing all the attention from the store. As it did right now. But she liked this attention. She actually knew these people who were staring ar her.

"Peridot!!" Steven's voice echoed as he ran from the register to give Peridot a hug. She looked past him and saw Garney, Pearl and Amethyst. Garnet gave a thumbs up while Pearl did a tiny friendly wave. While Amethyst decided to join in on the hug, suffocating her in the process. Then they released when they realized she turned into a color she wasn't supposed to.

"Yo P-dot we missed ya!." Amethyst gave her a strong pat on the back. The short latina girl with long brown hair and revealing clothing gave Peridot a smile. Peridot smiled back before Steven joined in. The man had a long stubble beard, his his curly long hair in a man bun as he wore a muscle shiry with cargo pants and flip flops.

"You wouldn't believe what Ameythyst did a couple weeks ago! She basically made Pearl eat this enti-." Steven was cut off by Pearl clearing her throat and giving him a maternal glare. He took a step back, nervously laughing. Pearls sourness disappeared from her face as it turned to an overworked smile.

The ginger haired beauty had baby blue eyes and a slim figure. She was wearing a sun dress and some slippers that matched. 

The woman beside her was Garnet. Her afro so big and poofy, it almost formed a square shape. Shades covered her eyes, making her look stoic and expressionless most of the time. She wore a t shirt that stopped at her navel and black tights.

Pearl clasped her hands. " So Peridot! How was your trip to the city?"

"It was nice." LIES "I had a fun time there."

"How's your family doing?" Pearl's expression was so gleeful.

Peridot's eyes darted the room as she targeted the school uniform. Bingo. She excused herself and purchased the item real quick. The cashier guy looked friendly, but she didn't bother talking to him since he had earbuds on. Never try to speak with anyone with earbuds on. Protip.

The man put the folded uniform into the back and handed it to Peridot along with the receipt. She walked back to the group, peeking nonstop inside the bag. 

"Perisnot! Are you ever gonna join in on group chat when we play COD?" Amethyst yelled out, then resting her elbow against the elevated shoulders. She was too short.

"Amethyst lower your voice. And yes sooner or later once I get everything settled." The taller one assured her.

Garnet tapped the shoulder of the blonde,  startling her and making her drop the bag. "Sorry." the woman apologized and picked it up for her. She peeked in the bag and a slight smile was appearing on her face.

"What're you smiling at." Peridot was confused. She snatched the bag out if the woman's hand.

"Oh nothing. I just wanted to let you know that Jasper was drinking and she crashed over our house." The calm voice spoke. "We would like to bring her back to her apartment if you dont mind."

"Oh sure, are you driving or-"

"You're driving." She quickly said. "Theres no way im letting her in my car after what happened a month ago."

"What happened a month ago?" she asked with curiosity in her eyes.

"Ohohoho...Garnet was driving Jasper home after a drinking night and she threw up all over the place!!" Amethyst was laughing hysterically and Pearl dragged her out of the store, the bell jingles. Peridot turned to Garnet. It was hard to tell whether or not she was looking back at her. She threw up a thumbs up.

"Alright then...Ill drive over to The Temple and pick her up." Her voice saddened by the task put upon her. Having to drive her best friend home, praying there wouldn't be vomit everywhere.  

After leaving the store and settling in her car, she recieved a call from someone. "Hello?" she asked casually.

"Hey Peridot! Hurry and pick up Jasper! Shes throwing up all over the place.!

"I know Amethyst! Thats the reason i'm in my car right now." she started playing with the steering wheel.

"By the way, her girlfriend is over here so you finally get to meet her! Yaayy!"

" I already did yesterday so yayyy!"

" Wait, I thought-" she quickly ended the call since it seemed to go on an entirely different subject that Peridot didn't want to explain. She started the car and drove her way out of the campus parking lot. 

_Lapis huh. Well...I guess I could actually try and have a conversation with her rather than some random shit._

Peridot arrived at The Temple about 20 minutes later. The Temple was what they called their hangout base. Their 'woman cave' even though sometines Steven and his dad would crash their too. In The Temple was just a simple loft filled with alcohol, couches, tables, and other shit. Parties sometimes were held there since there was a DJ stand. She remembered before she left, they held a huge farewell party. Instant regret. On the plane, she had a massive hangover and threw up.

The glass door to the entrance of the Temple flew open when. Garnet was holding Jasper bridal style, walking towards Peridot's  grey 2015 Honda Civic. Garnet was incredibly strong, even for a 6 footer to carry Jasper. Garnet reached the back seat door and opened it. She threw Jasper in the car, her head hitting the opposite window.

"Whoops." Garnet said. 

"Its fiiiine...Jasper won't feel a thing." Peridot assured her before starting the car.

"Were having a group chat later, join us." Garnet insisted.

"Yeha yeah, Ameythyst already yelled that into my brain."

Garnet closed the back seat door and gave a thumbs up. Whats up with her and thumbs up. The blonde returned the gesture, but with a genuine smile. The smile went into a frown when someone opened the passenger seat and sat right next to her.

Lapis. More like... La Piss...

Peridot gave her brain a highfive for that joke. She turned to Lapis who was buckling her seatbelt. Once it clicked, she turned to the blonde and smiled.

"Hey." Lapis greeted. This warmed Peridot's heart. But she didn't let it get the best of her because of course, the has Jasper written all over it. If Jasper found out that Peridot had this fondness in Lapis, she would beat her to pulps. Maybe blender her in the Ninjuicer they bought a couple years ago. 

"H-Hello Lazuli." Peridot stuttered, shifting the gears into drive. Before they knew it they were already driving in the neighbor hood.

The car radio was broken so just sat in silence. All that was audible was Jasper's snoring, the engine roaring and the wind. The blonde took a couple glances at Lapis once in a while. She was trying to fiddle with the radio.

"Its broken." Peridot informed her, eyes lockes on the road. Lapis hummed in response.

"What do you listen to?" The shorter girl asked, still messing with the black knob. She twisted it left and right.

Perisot shrugged."Dubstep.And maybe trap sometimes." Her attention went to Lapis when the came across a stop light. One hand was occupied on the wheel, while her arm rested on the middle console. "How about you?" She asked nonchalantly. 

"Just some old indie shit." The bluenette pinched a lock of hair and twiddled it around. "A little bit of modern music if i'm in the mood."

The light turned green and Peridot's attention left the girl for a moment. Driving off again, the that taller one opened her lips to speak.

"How old are you?" She said with a little hesitation. Peridot's eyes narrowed.

"Is that any of your buisness?" Lapis's tone sounded irritated. Her face remained relaxed though.

"Oh sorry I.." The blonde decided to say no more and pursed her lips. This wasn't fair at all!

The shorter one let out a short sigh. "Since you answered my question, I guess I have to answer yours." Her blue eyes met Peridots. "Im 21 and counting."

"Wow, I thought you were 17 or something!" Peridot's eyes widen,her grip on the wheel tensed. The older one started chuckling, her eyes looking down.

"Well, you're 19 right? You have so much life ahead of you." Lapis impersonated an old lady voice. Peridot's smiled brightly, catching the suprise the other girl. She had never seen her smile this way. It was somewhat, welcoming. Lapis's cheeks burned as she looked away. How cliche. "Just....keep your eyes on the road." 

"You got it dude!" The smiling nerd said with genuine enthusiasm, pointing a finger gun while her other hand was on the wheel. Lapis rolled her eyes and smirked.

"You're such a dork." Her eyes half lidded as if she were depressed or some shit. Peridot just shrugged and spoke without thinking.

"A cute one at least." She spoke highly of herself, before realizing what she just said. Peridot wanted to scream into the void in darkness and sell her soul to Satan after saying something embarrassing like that. Her eyes glanced at Lapis, who had a grin on her face. Her arms were crossed as she was tapping her foot in a rhythm.

"Maybe..." Lapis gave an answer that Peridot found baffling. The bloonde started overthinking that answer.

Maybe what?! Maybe I think your cute?! Maybe you suck ass?! God this girl was confusing as hell. The blonde cleared her throat before locking her eyes on the road and making her lips in a straight line. Lapis found her expression very amusing. Jasper's snoring was a definite turn off to their conversations throughout the car ride. By the time they reached the house, Peridot learned a shit ton things about Lapis.

Her favorite color which was Blue. Her favorite song artist, Lana Del Rey. She also learned that she met Jasper in a lesbian club. The one that Jasper took Peridot to once, and it ended up with Peridot passing out on the dance floor. That was one of the most embarrassing moments of her pathetic life.

The last thing that Lapis told Peridot about was that Jasper and her had a fight last night. That must explain the hangover since Jasper is a stress drinker. The two girls somehow found a way to carry the brute out of the car and into the room without one of then falling.They tucked the drooling Jasper into her orange king sized bed. Peridot ruffled her hair as if she were her mother and killed the lights. Lapis however, already made her way downstairs. 

 It was only 2 in the afternoon and Peridot felt exhausted. She held the bag that contained the uniform in her hand as she made her way into her room. An unexpected Lapis was snooping around. Jesus Christ.

"Lapis, why are you in my room? Don't you have anything better to do?" Peridot asked coldly. Tossing the bag onto her bed as Lapis watched her action.

"Nope!" She turned around to continue snooping, making her way to the trophy shelves. "What's this?"

Peridot approached her to stand right next to her."These are called..trophies." Talking to her as if she were stupid. Lapis punched her shoulder unamused before reading what was engraved on the trophy bases.

"Most steals per game...?" Lapis mumbled as she squinted her eyes to read the small print. "Out of your whole team?" Her head turned to Peridot, who was holding in laughter.

"No dummy, out of all the basketball teams in Beach County." The blonde said it with pride. She walked away from Lapis and the trophies to sit on the bed. The shorter girl was frozen in shock. Who knew such an akward, nerdy girl like her could be able to achieve such trophies. She felt bad for stereotyping. But she was one hundred percent sure that Peridot was into those shooty bang bang games. She could see a couple of the game cases her desk.

"You're not that bad Perisnot." Lapis said as she made her way to the picture frames on the wall. She saw a specific frame that caught her eye.

It was a group picture of Peridot and her parents? A man with a suit and black tie stood next to a woman wearing a white dress. In the middle was a blonde girl wearing a fluffy white dress similar to the woman. Peridot. "Are these your parents?" Lapis was curious, but she didn't want to offend Peridot in anyway.

The tall girl remained seated on her bed, looking at Lapis with sad eyes. "Yeah, but I hate them." She said with no shame at all. To think such words would come out her mouth, such sin. Lapis didn't find it nice from what Peridot said, but there had to be a reason to why she 'hated' them.

"What happened?" The shorter girl walked over to the bed to sit next to her. Peridot flinched at her action, but didn't leave her position. The blonde seemed to relax actually, letting out a deep sigh. She bit her lip, before turning her entire body to face Lapis.

"I-I can't...sorry." Peridot's voice cracked as it released an anxious tone. Her fingers ran through her hair trying to grip herself not to start crying. She wouldn't look at Lapis, she was probably taking pity on Peridot. How pathetic, she would be thinking.

Lapis watched Peridot have a silent breakdown, her mind was blank. She didn't know what to do, should she hug her? She grit on her teeth and wrapped her arms around Peridot's torso. She engaged in a very akward hug, her eyes shut tight. Peridot didn't move at all. One hand was still in her hair, while the other was relaxed on her side. None of them hugging Lapis back. She felt as if she made a move that made the blonde uncomfortable.

Lapis didn't know what she was doing. But it felt right. The person right next to her was crying, so of course you need to comfort them, right? No strings attached. 

"There there." Lapis said robotically, patting on the girls back. Peridot just laughed quietly. The bluenette was confused as she lifted her head up to the chuckling Peridot.

"Wow thanks." The blonde wasn't looking at Lapis though. Her focus was drawn to the picture frame. Lapis could feel the other girl's pain she had for her parents. Her parents did leave her all alone after all. That was before she met Jasper, Steven and the rest. They let her stay at their house for the last 6 months until moving in a dorm.

Lapis could feel the hitches in Peridot's breathing with her head being so close to her chest. She was crying?

She felt something wrap around her neck and shoulders. Peridot's long arms embraced her in and akward friendly hug. Their eyes never met, since the blonde never looked down at Lapis. These weird emotions radiated off into the room. Akwardness, sadness, comfort. This made Lapis's heart race. The girl felt the arms leave her shoulders as the dropped to the side.

"Thanks..you can stop hugging now." She whispered.

The shorter girl quickly pushed herself off of the other girl's chest and blushed slightly. The blonde tried to force a smile, but it soon went back to a frown. Lapis didn't know what to do. Her mind was not in the right state. Why did she hug her for that long? She would never do that to someone she barely knows. Why is her heart burning with this electrifying sensation. Why is this akward, linky, yet charming person making her-

She snapped out of it. She looked at Peridot who was rubbing her teary eyes. _How cute._  

Oh shit. Lapis. Has. Feels. For. Her.

She tugged the bottom of her croptop and thought about what the consequences of this would be. Jasped first of all is in the other room, passed out. Lapis would not let herself feel this way towards Peridot. But-

It felt so good- FUCK SNAP OUT OF IT LAPIS! GET A GRIP GIRL! NO MATTER WHAT YOU CAN'T ADMIT YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH THIS CUTE DORK!

"Um Lapis? You've been standing there for 3 minutes looking at the wall. Are you okay?" Peridot asked with concern.

"IM FINE EVERYTHING IS PEACHY!" Lapis jumped startled,looking at Peridot with a nervous smile. 

"Okaayyy...well do you want me drive you to you're dorm?" She asked, her bloodshot eyes fading away.

"That would be nice..sure." The girl's voice was deep, trying to hide her excitement.

"Alright then meet me downstairs." The tall girl stood up and grabbed her keys from the bed, twirling it around and leaving the room.

Before leaving, she saw a picture frame of Jasper and Peridot on the wall. Then reality snapped.

"Thats right...Jasper." Her eyes closed as she pinched the bridge of her nose."How could I forget I have a GIRLFRIEND!" She shook her head in shame and walked out the door.

 

  ** _6 hours later._**

Lapis lay in her blue bed, gripping a pillow. Her eyes wide open and her legs wrapped around the pillow. She can't stop thinking about how much sin it would be to be attracted to another girl other than Jasper. Just ignore it, Lapis thought. It will go away sooner later. She sat up, her wet hair bobbed since she just got out the shower. Her phone snatched off the nightstand, she texted Pearl.

**WaterBitch: Pearl reply! I need to talk to you.**

**SaltyBird: Whats the matter Lapis?**

**WaterBitch: Has Peridot told anything about her parents to you?**

**SaltyBird: Well, she did mention going over to Empire City to visit her sick father. But thats all she said.**

  **SaltyBird: Why do you need this information? Are you interested in her?**

**WaterBitch: Whaaat??? No. Why would I like a nerd like her lol**

**SaltyBird: You're bad at lying. And theres plenty to like about Peridot.**

**WaterBitch: Like what. She plays pew pew headshot games?**

**SaltyBird: Hey! I enjoy RPG games once in a while. But honestly, if you haven't seen any good sides of Peridot, something is wrong with you.**

Lapis thought for a second. Then more moments. Good sides of Peridot?

**WaterWitch: What good sides does she show you?**

**SaltyBird: Well, to all of us actually. Sure she can be pretty straightforward and harsh on words sometimes. But she cares.**

**WaterWitch: How do I get her to show that side to me?**

**SaltyBird: Let her show you the sweet side of her. Don't  neglect it. Gtg.**

Lapis turned her phone off and gripped the pillow even tighter.

All the sides of Peridot that she saw were only, akwardness,nerd, and sadness. But she wanted to get to know Peridot better. She didn't know why. It just felt right to talk to her.

"Let her show her sweet?" Lapis mumbled before dozing off into dreamland.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the next chapter, were gonna be learning about Lapis *finger guns*


	3. Ham And Cheese

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot and the gang attend the coronation. Sapphire and Peridot talk afterwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!  
> THIS CHAPTER IMPLIES SELF HARM!
> 
> Sorry about last chapter if I made the hugging scene a bit overdramatic. From now on i'll try slow the pace down,
> 
> Btw this is more of a dialogue chapter at the end. Not really a ton load of lapidot. But a ton load of feels.

_BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP_

"Stupid alarm!" Peridot grabbed the black electronic alarm clock and threw it across the room. It hit the door making a loud thud. 

_Beep Beep Beeeooooo_

The alarm eventully died out. Peridot regretted her action and now has to buy another alarm clock. 

Peridot's legs wobbled as she stood up abruptly. Stretching her body then perching her glasses on her nose.

Today, Peridot woke up early because the coronation starts at around 9:30. Her mood was neutral, not happy or sad she had to get ready. It was just like highschool but, harder. The blonde opened her drawer to take out the uniform she purchased yesterday.

It was a white shirt with a tie that came along with a beige sweater you need to wear over it. She didn't buy the skirts, and even if she wanted to she couldn't. That was because her legs were too long for it and it would only cover up half of her thigh section. So she instead bought the khakis the men were supposed to wear. She wondered if Jasper and Garnet need to wear pants as well with them being over 6 feet. 

Peridot rushed over to Jasper's room to find the big woman still sleeping. She frowned having to wake her up.

"Jasper! Stop dreaming about Arnold Schwarzenegger and wake up!" Peridot shook her violently, Jaser snoring loudly before she woke up. 

"Wha? Whos Arnold?" She asked confused and groggily before she sat up rubbing her neck. "Isn't he the one from Nickelodeon?

The blonde jumped up to her feet and told Jasper to get ready. Jasper as well, purchased the uniform khakis. What a surprise.

Peridot slipped on the uniforms after taking a shower. Nice. The sweater fit perfectly and the khakis went a little farther down to her ankles. She worked on her hair a bit longer than she intended, wanting to make it as nice as she could possibly imagine. After eating some leftover spaggetti from last night and brushing her teeth, she slipped on some socks and nice shiny black shoes that came with the uniform. This made her look like a rich kid that owned a mansion that drank tea and owned dobermen as guard dogs. 

Jasper came walking down the stairs not long after, adjusting her tie. It looked like it was suffocating her. Peridot rolled her eyes and speed walked toward the struggling Jasper.

"You pull it this way you idiot." Peridot adjusted the brute's tie roughly and impatiently. Jasper was practically choking because of the girl's amazing tie skills.

The tie was perfect after she finished strangling Jasper. She looked at the shorter blonde and winked.

"Lookin spiffy Peri." She pointed finger guns at the the girl.

The shorter girl's eye twitched in irritation. She didn't like Jasper's way of saying 'hey you look good'. The gesture that Jasper was doing right now reminded her of a 40 year old pedophile.

"So how's things with Lapis? I heard you got in an arguement with her." Peridot asked, now adjusting her own tie.

"Ugghh..she just doesn't understand me." Jasper pouted, crossing her arms. Peridot was going to laugh, but she sucked it in.

"You sound emo." She chuckled. " Aren't you supposed to  _try_ and understand her? Isn't that the whole  _point_ of a relationship?" 

"Well what do  _you_ know about dating? You never dated anyone since middle school!" Jasper's face looked like a pug at this point of the conversation.

Peridot just shrugged and slumped on the couch, spinning the TV remote on her index finger. She continued spinning it until Jasper snatched it off of her finger.

"You woke me up too early, its only 8:00." Jasper growled. "We won't need to leave the house until 9:00."

"Lets just watch some OITNB (Orange Is The New Black) I recorded last night." Peridot snatched the TV remote out of her hand with catlike reflexes and put the program on.

"Fine. But you better not yell "lesbians everywhere" every five seconds." Jasper joined Peridot sitting on the couch. Her elbow rested on the armrest with her jaw on the palm of her hand.

 

 

 **Meanwhile....**

"Saaaphiireee...I don't wannaaa..." Lapis whined, her head in a pillow while her arm was being tugged by her roomate.

"Lapis, you need to get ready. We're going to be late for the ceremony." The fully uniformed girl spoke maternally. This was Sapphire. Lapis's roommate and one of her bestest friends. 

The short dark skinned girl was already prepared to start the day in her uniform. Her bangs covered her eyes, only one being functional. The other was replaced by a glass prosthetic. She had a stoic and kind vibe to her that Lapis found very welcoming.

But not now. Not when she was trying to pull her out of her only safe zone. Her lovely bed.

"Ugsnfbsnxnsbbsbxhsd." Lapis spat out nonsense before sitting up. She rubbed her eyes to see clearly. Her bedhead wasn't that bad, but the taste in her mouth was horrible. Sapphire already left the room, going who knows where.

"Where is that stupid...uggh." Lapis was searching in her drawers for her sweater and skirt. "Aha! Gotcha now bitch." She pulled out what she was looking for, wasting 10 minutes.

She ran down to the public bathroom and took a shower,brushed her teeth, and did a litttle dance while slipping her skirt on. Luckily, the bathroom  was empty. Or so she thought.

"Bravo Lapis!" Sapphire clapped in the bathroom doorway.

"Ah!Shit! Sapphire?" The taller girl almost tripped on her own skirt. Thankfully, she grabbed onto one of the curtains that covered on of the shower stalls.

"You should hurry up now. You can dance later when nobody's watching." Sapphire teased before lifting her bangs and giving a wink. She finally left Lapis to dress.

Lapis fixing her hair into a nice bun, she started thinking of what Peridot would look like in a skirt. Cute probably, she would be bashful saying " _Oh im not cute."_  before turning away and blushing. Lapis felt her cheeks get red - and soon discovered she like a tomato when she looked at the mirror.

Then her mind switched on Jasper. Jasper and her had a fight 2 nights ago and they haven't spoken since. Does that count as a breakup? Are they over? Lapis shook her head in denial. It can't be over just like that!? Just over a stupid a stupid video game?

The bluenette finished her hair and smiled proudly at her achievement. She walked out of the bathroom and saw Sapphire waiting for her at the end of the hallway. The other girl gestured her to hurry up, and that she did. Lapis could feel a breeze going up her skirt, so she patted it down with her hands. 

How the hell is there a breeze in a closed building!!?

She turned around to see that she just walked past an air conditioner. She rolled her eyes and kept walking. The skirt was knee length, but why knee length? It was fucking fall outside. Stupid school board.

As Sapphire and her reached the glass pane door, they noticed it was pretty sunny outside. Lapis sighed in relief, thinking she would have had to walk around in a skirt all day in chilly weather. Heeelll no.

The trip to the university is about a ten minute walk for them, but a 10 minute drive for Japser and Peridot. 

Sapphire and Lapis were walking down the cracked sidewalks, leaves blanketed them. 

"So, are you going to practice with us on Tuesday?" Sapphire asked, breaking the silence.

"Practice?" Lapis was confused, she looked at Sapphire.

"Swim practice. The one activity you did every year since freshman year of highschool." Sapphire informed, she was surprised that Lapis forgot about it.

"Oh thats right!" Lapis hit her palm against her forehead before letting her arms fall to the side. She had signed up for the college varsity swim team. One of the most elite in the state, the BSU Bears.

"Soo? Are you going to attend or not?" Sapphire's voice was still calm. Her tone never really changes, only if someone REALLY pisses her off.

"Of course! I've been doing that since I was what - 17?!" Lapis then reminded herself that she was held back from school. Graduating at 20, only to attend college a year later. She let out a deep sigh.

She felt Sapphire's hand gently rest on her shoulder. She turned to look at the girl.

"Lapis, I know what you're thinking. It isn't your fault you got held back." Lapis could almost see the glistening in Sapphires eyes when she said that.

Lapis nodded in response, looking down at the sidewalk ahead of her. A gate.

"Looks like were here." Sapphire said exhaling. "How about we go see if the others are here." She tilted her head into the direction she planned to go.

"Alright, but I think they already found us." Lapis pointed over Sapphires shoulder. Amethyst, Pearl, Steven, and Ruby were walking their way smiling and waving.

"Hey Lapis!" Steven gave Lapis a friendly hug, and she returned it with no hesitation. He did the same with Sapphire, having to bend down to let her reach his shoulders. 

"Have you seen Connie? I've been looking for her since this morning." Steven asked in worry. Lapis shook her head, biting her lip. Connie is an important person in Steven's life, and Lapis felt bad seing Steven like this.

"I'll contact you when I see her." She patted him on the back. He smiled sweetly.

Ruby and Sapphire were flirting with eachother - as always - while Amethyst got a piggy ride from Steven.

"So Lapis, you met Peridot?" Amethyst yelled out, still riding on Steven who was listening to the conversation. "Shes pretty cool huh?"

  "Y-yeah..." Lapis wanted to leave this area ASAP. She needed to avoid that name, person, and everything that had to do with her. Luckily, Pearl saved day.

"Ohoho! Were going to be late for the ceremony! Lets go into the auditorium before they lock us out!" Pearl lied very badly, grabbing onto Steven and Amethyst's wrists before dragging them down the pavement trail.  Lapis followed. Eventually leading to a big brown building with a banner and balloons in the distance. 

Ruby and Sapphire said they'll catch up, returning to their makeout mania. Thats how Ruby and Sapphire always were. Madly in love with eachother even though they were complete opposites.

Unlike Sapphire, the dark skinned and curly haired girl was short tempered and had a bad mouth. Always cursing whenever she had a tantrum. But whenever Sapphire is with her, she is actually pretty sweet. Relationship Goals.

Pearl and Lapis walked side by side, while the other two were goofing off behind them. They were able to make out what the banner said.

"Welcome Freshman and returning students."

"When are Garnet and the other two going to arrive?" Lapis asked, not wanting to say the blondes' name.

"Garnet is already inside and well - even though I should - I don't know whether Peridot and Jasper are going to show up." Pearl started tapping on her chin.

"I see.." The shorter girl turned around to see two tall figures running towards them. Both wearing the same uniform, the sweater everyone has on and some black uniform khakis. Pearl noticed Lapis's attention was grabbed by something else and turned to look as well.

"Oh. Speak of the devil." Pearl nudged Lapis in the shoulder.

"Peridot! Wait *wheeze* I haven't hit the gym since last *wheeze* week!" Jasper said the last word sharply, trying to gasp for air.

They were running in a moderate pace, not jogging nor Olympic racing. Peridot was already used to running at this pace, so she was on her phone scrolling through Instagram. She glanced up to see Lapis and Pearl waving at them, gesturing them to come in the auditorium.

The two slowed down, Jasper wrapped her arm around Peridot's neck trying to catch her breath. The bigger girl caught herself in Lapis's attention as she straightened herseld up and stopped breathing like a barbarian.

"Lapis." Jasper greeted, arm still around Peridot.

"Jasper." Lapis said, obviously wanting Jasper to go away.

"Look, you know I didn't mean what I said." She tried to approach the shorter girl, extending her hand out. But Lapis backed away, as Jasper retracted her arm in disappointment.

 

"Its fine Japser, just-"

"No its not fine! I shouldn't have said those things to you and i'm sorry." Jasper's words were sincere. 

"Whatever." Lapis coldly spoke. Her words hit Jasper like an arrow to her heart.

"So you forgive me?"Jasper perked up.

Lapis just flipped her off. Sticking her tongue out.

"Aww thanks babe." Jasper went in for a hug.

What the actual fuck. Is this how relationships work nowadays? Has Peridot been single for so long that they changed the definition of love?

Everyone, except the two hugging, seemed confused as hell.

Peridot cleared her throat and raised a finger.

"Now that _this_ was settled," Peridot gestured her hands."Why dont we go to the coronation. You know, the whole reason we're here?"

"Garnet must be waiting for us in there. I wonder if she saved us some seats." Pearl made her way to the double doors and held it open.  

It was dark, stuffy, and hot.

The perfect place to sit in for the next half hour.

The auditorium was built underground, so the seats went from top to bottom when they entered. The stage being at the very bottom as white light shone down from a spotlight.

Luckily, Garnet found an empty row in the very back. They spotted her the second they entered as she gave a thumbs up. They all crowded into the seats, and eventually seated themselves.

Peridot sat between Lapis and Jasper. How nice. Having to sit by the girl that watched her break down mentally the other day was bad. Having to sit next to her best friend who would make inappropriate sex jokes throughout the event was probably worse.

"Welcome newcomers and returning students! Blah blah blah blah." Peridot didn't care enough to listen. Instead she turned her phone on and scrolled through ESPN news. She was interrupted when someone behind her tapped her shoulder.

"Peridot you put that away now!" Pearl yell whispered. It was too dark to see her expression, but Peridot guessed it would be pretty funny. She shook her head and ignored Pearl, reading an article about a player trade. 

Peridot sensed something over her head, like a ghost. She looked up to see a hand grab her phone right out of her lap. "Hey! Pearl you salt eater!" Peridot hissed.

"You'll get it back at the end of the coronation." She could almost see a smug look on Pearl's face. 

"Uuggghhhhhhggggghh" Peridot groaned slouching lower into her seat.

It had only been a couple of minutes until she felt a nudge on her shoulder. Jasper was holding in a laugh. Peridot sighed, knowing Jasper was going to say something stupid.

"What do you want Jasper?" She whispered annoyed.

Jasper pointed down at the stage. Mayor Dewey was giving some speech about safe sex on campus. Peridot could hear Amethyst laughing behind them.

"What? Are you a middle schooler?" Peridot was unamused. She thought Jasper was a little bit too old to be laughing at this.

"Knock knock." The bigger girl holding her breath.

Peridot let out a sigh."Who's there"

"Dewey" She snorted.

"Dewey  _who?."_ Peridot groaned. She wanted to jump off a cliff.

" _Dewey have a condom?"_

Everyone in the whole row, burst into laughter, including Pearl.  Peridot rolled her eyes. The first time she told that joke was in 6th grade. She turned to Lapis who was dying of laughter. She couldn't help but stare at the Lapis that was enjoying herself. Peridot felt something tingly in her chest work up to her base of her throat. How weird.

It wasn't until they made eye contact that stopped the girl's laughing. It slowly died out, and it was silent. Peridot turned her head to look down at the stage.

"Hey." 

Lapis poked Peridot's shoulder wanting to grab her attention. She quickly turned her head, startled by the contact.

"W-what?" The stutter got the best of Peridot.

"About the other day, I want-" the bluenette started.

"It's okay, I understand if you don't want anything to do with me." The blonde interrupted, leaning foward and letting her elbows rest on her thighs.

"What?No - well yes but - no." Lapis tried to search for words to explain. But it ended up offending her.

"I knew it. Looks like another person in life hates me." Peridot scoffs before standing up.

"Thats not what I meant, now sit your butt back down." She grabbed Peridot by the wrist and pulled her back down to her seat. All of it being sudden, she lets an "oof" escape her mouth. 

"I barely know you. What makes you think you can just grab me like that?" The blonde hissed, yanking her hand out of Lapis's grip.

"You let me hug you while you cried! Yet I can't have a simple conversation with you?!" The shorter girl loudly whispered, clutching her chest area of the uniform. She let out a groan.

"Well I wasn't in the right mental state so that interaction we had doesn't count." Peridot gestured her hands in a circular motion.

Lapis couldn't read any of her facial expressions, so she just imagined the one of the Giza Pyramids replacing her head. 

"Ugh, forget about it." Lapis gave up and crossed her arms. She couldn't believe how stubborn that girl was. Just trying to start a conversation, and out of nowhere she starts getting all defensive. So much for getting to know her better.

But there was Jasper too. She could ask Jasper a bunch of questions about Peridot, and learn more about her. Thats a bit weird though. Lapis wanted to interact with Peridot, but not in a sexual way. She wanted to talk to her, not whisper dirty things in her ear. Or at least not now. About 20 minutes of uncomfortable atmosphere passed by.

"Listen Lazuli." Peridot started in a stern, yet slightly friendly voice. "I understand you want to get to know me better, and I appreciate that. But I also appreciate people that don't snoop around in my room. Making me tell stories I can't tell, and I eventually end up blaming you for that. So please be patient with me, I want to get to know you to. I want to understand you better as a friend." Peridot gulped out of breath from saying a whole speech.

Lapis couldn't  believe how lame that was. But she had no right to think or say that. Deep down, Lapis actually appreciated Peridot's effort. Despite what happened a couple days ago, she could completely forget that ever happened if she wanted to.

"Same." Lapis simply said, speaking genuinely. 

The lights brightened the entire room, blinding the whole audience.

"Thank you for coming to the coronation! Please attend your classes once they begin!" A female voice spoke into the microphone.

Peridot and Lapis looked at eachother with the same expression. A blank face. Lapis's poker face broke into a wide smile after staring at Peridot for a good 5 seconds. The laugh was contagious - as it caught onto Peridot - who grew an akwardly cute smile on her face. Pearl cleared her throat.

" Are you two done yet?" She had an eyebrow raised.

"Why yes mama bird." Lapis put on a medieval accent.

"Mama bird my ass." Pearl grumbled under her breath before tossing Peridot her phone and speed walking out of the bright room. 

Barely catching her phone by her fingertips, Peridot stumbled her way out of the row of chairs. Lapis followed her through the double doors and took a breath of fresh air. All the other students left already, leaving Lapis and Peridot the last ones to come out.

"Yo P! Did you like my joke?" Jasper flung her arm around Peridot's shoulder, wiggling her bushy eyebrows.

"I've heard that at least 50 times from you." Peridot removed Jasper's heavy arm. "And probably 50 more times from my teammates in highschool"

"Yeah but, I say it best." She spoke proudly, putting an arm around Lapis. The shorter girl held her dangling arm.

A tight feeling grew in Peridot's abdomen. Menstrual cramps this early in the month? It can't be, she just finished her period about a week ago. It was a different kind of hurting, like someone just punched her in the gut. She clenched her abdomen with her hand and gripped it tight.

"Oh by the way P, Lapis and I are gonna go get some lunch together. Wanna tag along?" Jasper friendly invited Peridot.

She couldn't even if she wanted to. Her lower body was hurting like hell. It was spreading slowly to her thighs, making them numb. What the hell is this? The blonde never felt anything like this. So weird.

"I-You guys go ahead.Uhm-I'll just hang out with Steven and the rest." Peridot's voice strained. The pain was getting to her.

"Alrighty, if you need me we'll be at Sam's Sandwich Palace.

Jasper didn't seem to notice Peridot's pain, but Lapis had concern in her eyes. Looking right into Peridot's eyes. The taller blonde's pain was going up to her chest as Lapis searched her eyes. 

"Lets go babe." Jasper wrapped her arm around her waist and walked back to the gate. Her hand slipped down to her rear, as Jasper turned around to Peridot and gave her a grin. That bastard.

But the pain was gone. Peridot's breathing intensified as she exhaled all the breath she held in the pain. She started to wonder if she was pregnant or something. That couldn't be possible given the fact the farthest contact she had been with a guy was a hug. And that was only Steven and a couple of family members.

She turned around to see her friends in a group, talking over eachother. Ruby and Sapphire were there holding hands and whispering in eachothers ears. Amethyst and Pearl were yelling at eachothers faces about some underwear Ameythyst left on the ground. And Steven-wait. Wheres Steven?

"Hey Peridot!" A deep voice greeted her, turning her head around, she saw Steven and Connie. "You remember Connie right?"

Connie is Steven's girlfriend - an Indian girl who has known Steven for over 6 years - finally became love birds this year. Their hands were entwined, Connie waved her hand.

"Nice to see you again, Peridot." She said, a kind smile on her face. 

Peridot could see why Steven adored Connie so much. She was a perfect match for him. Both of them being as innocent and as charming as angels. She knew one day, their innocence would have to leave their youth.

"So...have you guys done the deed yet?" Peridot asked with no shame, putting a cheeky expression.

"What?" Steven's innocent confusion made Connie blush, she knew exactly was Peridot was talking about.

"No not yet. A-And we don't plan to until we are comfortable with eachother, right Steven!?" She turned to Steven, who was still baffled.

"I don't know wh-" Connie elbowed in the rib, giving him a look. "Ah! Yes of course. We will not do whatever you are talking about." Steven was rubbing his side, laughing nervously.

Steven is a little cinnamon bun, too precious for this cruel world. Even though he is 18, he is so innocent.

Peridot felt something vibrate in her back pocket. She took out her iPhone to see there was a notification from Jasper. She opened it to see a bacon and grilled cheese sandwhich Jasper was holding. Her face was offscreen, but she held out a thumbs up next to the sandwich. Peridot rolled her eyes.

**Clod: Don't send me anymore food porn, I'm tryna avoid diabetes.**

**BuffMama: Oh come on, you're not playing sports anymore. Have some good food in your life.**

**Clod: I never said anything about sports. All that i've been eating this week was spaghetti and Doritos.**

**BuffMama: Nyehehehehe**

**Clod:Stfu. And while you're there, buy me a ham and cheese sandwich.**

**BuffMama: Boring. Im buying you what I got.**

**Clod: Whatever.**

Peridot groaned to Jasper's response and stuffed her phone into the back pocket of her khakis. 

 "Hello Peridot." Pearl walked next to Peridot, catching her by surprise. "What classes are you taking?" 

"I want to specialize in IT, but I also need to take the regualar classes. You know, history, english, algebra etc." Peridot said brightly. 

The girl was very interested in technology is general. She would experiment on random gears she found laying around her house and fiddle with it when she was younger. She would make robots for her father before he became corrupt in money. She stopped making them when she realized that her parents did bad business. But that didn't stop her from entering them in contests, winning each year. Its different now. Now she is an adult, and as an adult you can't just enter competitions anymore. You need to make a building block for yourself to get to the top. That was Peridot's plan in life. Also video games.

"Well, I plan on taking courses in education. It's been a dream of mine to be a teacher. Maybe even here!" Pearl said with passion.

"You just want to work with Rose Quartz, don't you." Peridot found a flaw in Pearl's "dream".

Rose Quartz was the guidance counselor here at BSU. Also, Steven's mother. She is sooooo nice, and super pretty. She was a tall, plump woman long locks of blossom pink hair. Pearl was super into her, that was until she decided to marry Greg, Steven already a teenager. Pearl was heartbroken.

"What- how di- no of course not." Terrible liar Pearl.

Pearl eventually recollected herself and let out a deep sigh. 

"Anyway off of that topic." She hastily said, clasping her hands. "I heard a couple scouts talk about a talented someone that used to play in BC High!" She reffered to Peridot obviously.

Another reason Peridot enlisted herself in BSU was because the scouts watched her on her Finals game. They told her parents that she was 'talented' and 'has a bright future here in BSU'. The scouts eventually convinced her parents to send her to BSU to play for them. She was perfectly fine with that. Peridot just wanted to play her favorite sport, thats all. But she had no plans to join WNBA any time. So she just stuck to joining college basketball.

"Yeah, I plan to play for the college." Peridot didn't want to sound cocky." So why not?"

"Well, that means your going to have to spend more time in the gym instead of in front of your monitor."

"Not _necessarily_ , I can still play games if I want to." Peridot corrected Pearl, feeling smug about it.  

"Oh! I already see some belly fat growing on you. You should  _really_ hit the gym." Pearl teased, rubbing Peridot's flat stomach.

The blonde smacked Pearl's hand and crossed her arms.

"You really should eat something Pearl, I can see your bones popping out of your clothes." Peridot put a grin on her face, the childish grin. "Spooky Scary Skele-Pearl."

"Why you little-" Pearl started smacking Peridot's shoulder in frustration. But the taller blonde just laughed.

"Yo P! Garnet and I are heading home! Lets goooooo." Amethyst was riding on Garnet's back. The taller woman was expressionless.

"Ill get you back for that." Pearl snarled, before dashing away to catch up with the other two. The pale lady almost tripped on an uneven sidewalk crack. Peridot snorted at her action.

"Nice to see you again Peridot." A calm voice greeted the taller girl.

"Good to see you too Sapphire." She looked around to find Ruby.

"She went to the bathroom."  

Sapphire was practically a mind reader. Peridot swore she was into those voodoo things.

"How was your Empire City vacation?" Sapphire sat on the brick that surrounded a tree. Peridot sat next to her. One knee bent while the other was straight.

"It was good." She calmly lied.

A couple moments of silence passed. Peridot wondered what Sapphire was thinking about. They watched students walk passed them, going to classes on the other side of campus.

"You shouldn't lie Peridot. That wil break relationships." Sapphire's voice deepened into a more serious tone. This frightened Peridot a tad bit.

"You shouldn't assume people are lying." Peridot tried to counter her.

"Its not assuming. You and I both know you're not speaking the truth."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Peridot turned away to look at the opposite direction. 

"It is okay if you do not want to talk about it. But it would be better if you would." Sapphires voice was maternal. Much different from Peridot's mother. Sapphire would surely make a great mom.

"I told Jasper about it."

"What did she say?"

Peridot shrugged. She could sense Sapphire's eyes narrowing at her.

"We just watched a marathon of Supernatural. She thought it would cheer me up." Peridot felt her lips tug upwards into a small smile. 

"Would you like to talk about it?" Sapphire gently placed her hand on Peridot's shoulder.

"What? The marathon? Sure." Peridot said wryly, but her smile was gone.

"This is no joking matter if what happened was serious." Sapphire said firmly, letting her hand fall back onto her lap. 

"The problem is that i'm a joking matter." Peridot chuckled, but her voice cracked in sadness.

Sapphire's eyes widen at what she just said. Guilt flooded Sapphire as she clutched her own skirt. The blonde wasn't crying though. Her face was relaxed actually, with blank thoughts in her eyes.

"Nobody but you thinks that way about you!" Sapphire abruptly grabbed Peridot's right arm. The blonde tried to yank it away, but she gripped it tightly.

The shorter girl pulled down the blonde's sleeve.

Cuts. Old scars.Memories. Self harm.

It was silent. Sapphire stared blankly at Peridot's arm. 5 cuts. Already healed.

Peridot yanked her arm away from Sapphire and pulled her sleeve down, shooting Sapphire a look. 

"Its none of your buisness." Peridot stood up hastliy, patting her shirt.

Sapphire wouldn't understand her. Even after knowing her since their sophomore year of highschool, she wouldn't get it. She thinks that she knows everybody's feelings. Peridot opposed.

"Peridot..." Sapphire tried to comfort the taller girl extending a hand, but she flinched and took a step back from Sapphire's help.

"Yo peri! We're back where's the rest?" Jasper approached them with her fingers entwined with Lapis's. That was the first thing that Peridot looked at. It was ambient. 

Sapphire still sitting down, with Peridot standing up with an irritated look on her face. Jasper's eyes looked at Peridot and Sapphire back and forth. She was holding a paper bag with Sam Sandwich Palace printed on it.

"Did we come at a bad time?" Lapis laughed nervously. Peridot turned to Sapphire extending a hand to help her up. She pulled her up as Sapphire dusted her skirt.

"No not at all. Perfect timing." Sapphire's tone back to normal. It was as if nothing happened. It was the exact opposite.

"Yeah." Peridot simply said, hands in her pockets. Her tone was deep and croaky and her eyebrows slightly furrowed. The blonde girl took a step toward Jasper and Lapis.

"I think we should go home." She said, looking to the side. 

"O-okay...Lapis?" Jasper turned to the bluennete as she gave a nod in agreement. She gave Jasper a peck on the cheek before untangling fingers.

That feeling again roamed in Peridots chest.

"Hey Sapphire, ready to go back?" Lapis brushed passed Peridot to stand in front of Sapphire.

Sapphire gave Peridot a worried look over Lapis's shoulder. The blonde replied by mouthing 'its fine'. The shorter girl looked back at Lapis and nodded. Soon they were long gone, heading back to their dorm.

"So uh...lets go?" Jasper said, tapping Peridot's shoulder.

"Okay." She mumbled, walking to the car alongside the taller girl.

"Did she try to get you to talk about?" Jasper asked with concern.

The blonde nodded and looked at Jasper's hazel eyes. They were softer and more warm than usual.

They entered the car in silence and Peridot took shotgun. She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply and over dramatically. She felt something get placed on her lap. It was the bag that Jasper was holding earlier. It was greasy and light.

"I got you a sandwhich." Jasper told the girl before starting the car. The engine roared.

She looked at the bag, and back at Jasper. She was too busy with her eyes on the road. 

Her fingers slipped through the entrance of the bag, taking out a paper wrapped sandwich. She peeled it off, expecting a bacon and cheese sandwhich. She wouldn't care, she would it eat anyways since she was starving.

She looked at Jasper and back at the bread. Peridot closed her eyes and took a blind bite out of the bread and layers of whats inside. She didn't taste anything greasy or nasty. She looked again at Jasper who was smirking, eyes locked on the empty road. 

"How's the ham and cheese sandwhich?"

Peridot smiled a little bit. This made her day just a tad brighter-despite what happened earlier.

"Its as good as the play." Peridot said, taking another bite of the sandwich.

"What play?" Japser's eyes squinted in confusion. Peridot chewed the bite, swallowing it before opening her mouth to speak.

"Ham-ilton." She joked. A smile planted on her lips grew bigger.

It was quiet again. Was her joke not funny?

"Fuck you." Japser laughed, nudging Peridot in the shoulder with her elbow. The blonde forgot about earlier, and focused on the good things happening now.

 

 

 

BONUS!!:

Lapis walked through the dorm door, drying her wet hair after she just finished showering. Sapphire was sitting on her bed, reading a historical fiction novel. Lapis sat criss crossed on her bed, facing Sapphire.

"What were um-you and Peridot doing out there?" Lapis continued to dry her hair in a towel. Sapphire closed her book to talk,

"Well, we were just discussing about Donald Trump while Ruby was using the bathroom." Sapphire's eyes shot open wide open, realising what she just said.

"Oh, thats cool. Me and-" Sapphire grabbed Lapis's shoulders by suprise, making Lapis jump.

"Are you okay?" The bluenette raised an eyebrow. Sapphire's head was tilted down.

"WE FORGOT RUBY!!!" Sapphire gasped.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chocolate and Vanilla Swiiiirrl  
> Swirrlll
> 
> I was so hype for making this chapter! Sorry for making it a bit depressing at the end. Im still trying to introduce the plot and characters before throwing in lapidot bombs.
> 
> I have a little plan and im not telling u guys cuz im evil heheheheh
> 
> -Kpala


	4. The Bet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis breaks up with Jasper, and the other girl doesn't take it well. Meanwhile, Peridot is at home being a total geek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *raspberry fart noises*
> 
> I wrote this chapter after playing hours of 2K16. Sorry if you don't watch basketball. If you don't really know some of the players or understand what Peridot is talking about in this chapter - theres Google!  
> -Kpala

This was  _bad. Very bad._

Lapis's pacing around the room was already enough to get Sapphire worried. The bluenette was biting on her nails, one hand one her hip. Walking back and forth from the door, and to the window, the back of the room. She didn't know what to do. All those things she said when they went to get the sandwiches, were lies. Lapis kept pacing, switching her hand once all her nails were short.

"What is the matter, Lapis?" Sapphire shut her novel, and folded her hands on her lap.

"Its Jasper, Sapphire!! She ugh-I-ugghh!" The stressed girl stopped pacing and stood still by the door. Her fingers tapped her hips impatiently.

"English please." The other girl spoke, not understanding Lapis's situation.

The taller girl walked over the sit across from Sapphire on the royal blue bed. Her legs criss-crossed as she settled down.

"I can't do it , Sapphire. I can't break up with Jasper just like _that_." She whined.

"Just like _what_?" The brown haired girl was intruiged by the situation as she scooted closer to Lapis.

"You know!" Lapis flung her arms in the air in frustration, letting them flop back onto her lap.

"No. Unfortunatley, I do not." Sapphire shook her head. Even SHE couldn't tell what was wrong with Lapis.

The taller girl let out a sigh and scratched the back of her neck. "I wanna break up with her, but I caaaaaan't." She exaggerateed. Sapphire looked at Lapis with confusion, but she could relate to the situation she is in.

"Why is that? You don't want to her her feelings?" 

Lapis nodded in embarrassment before covering her face and falling on her back. The bed made her body bounce a couple of times. "Saapphhiirree....help a gal out." She groaned.

"Im afraid I cannot do that, Lapis." Her expression rarely changes, but it turned into a frown.

"What!? But-but you gotta!" Lapis shot up into a sitting position and grabbed Sapphire's shoulders. She didn't even flinch, as if she knew that was about to happen. "Pretty please..." Lapis put on puppy dog eyes.

"Even if I wanted to I can't." She put a hand over one of Lapis's. "It is your decision to do that."

Lapis snapped out of it. She was right. Sapphire should not be taking any responsibility in breaking up with Jasper. But she felt guilt that if she did, they wouldn't be friends. She didn't like that. Fuck, she was overthinking. Her mind was going to a place where nobodys mind should ever end up in. Overthinking the whole situation would just make it worse, and more stressful.

The bluenette let out a deep sigh before standing up and flopping on her own bed. "Fuck my life." She groaned into her pillow. Sapphire chuckled.

"Just tell her how you feel about the relationship. I'm sure she will understand." She tried to comfort the stressed Lapis. The one who was too pussy to break up with the brute. But it would be best for both of them. Especially since she was going to be occupied the whole day, thanks to her new job at the library and cafe. 

She didn't want any jobs out of the campus because that would take to much time to go to after her swim practices. Only having 20 minutes to get ready, the walk to the library was only 5 minutes or less. Win win! But lose lose her girlfriend. She thought about it for a second and let out a groan.

Their relationship never worked out anyway to be honest. They never really communicated with each other and ended up arguing and making up. But everytime they made up, it just broke the relationship little by little. Maybe it just wasn't meant for them to be that deep in a relationship. This was fucking frustrating, just end it goddammit Lapis! Another groan escaped her lips as she started to grow tired.

It had been two days since the welcoming ceremony, and Lapis  _still_ couldn't contact Jasper in any way. She then started thinking about the conversation she had with Peridot. It meant alot to her that the blonde wanted to be friends with her. She enjoyed her company anyway, so win win on that. Breaking up with Jasper also opens up the opportunity to date Peridot though. 

She punched her brain for thinking that way. Why the hell would she break up with Jasper to date  _her._ She shook her head in denial to her thoughts. 

SHE WAS ONLY BREAKING UP WITH JASPER TO FOCUS ON STUDIES AND WORK. She kept saying that in her head, over and over. Trying to get the thought of dating that dork. 

"Lapis? Are your okay? You've been talking in your sleep." A voice mumbled. It was dark and she could see the figure hover above her.

"Im fine, mom..." She groaned before hugging her pillow tighter and drifting of into sleep. Sapphire giggled at Lapis's mistake. 

 

  _ **Meanwhile at casa de Peridot..**_

_Russel Westbrook on the fast break and- Lebron James sends it back!!! What a block!_

"Tch. Go back to Miami, James." Peridot mumbled to herself. It was 10 pm and Peridot couldn't sleep. She was on the couch, her knees up to her chin. 

She was in her DeadPool pajamas, playing with one of the buttons on her sleeve. The entire room was consumed by darkness, the television being the only light source. The feeling of being alone was creepy, but comfortable at the same time.

She couldn't stop thinking about the conversation her and Sapphire had a couple days ago. Peridot felt guilty she acted that way towards someone who was trying to help her. But the smallest amount of pride in her kept her from apologizing. She knew that she had a bad habit of thinking she was above everyone else. 

She looked down at her right forearm resting on the the armrest of the couch. Peridot pulled her sleeve down, the tv being the only source of light to see the scars. They were farther down her her forearm, right in the middle. She rubbed it with her thumb, it ran over a bump that sealed her skin. Stupid stupid stupid.

"To think that it would be temporary." She growled, pulling the sleeve back down in anger. The blonde let out a sigh anf let her head hang back.

Peridot remembered her first weeks with the scars. She would wear a padded sleeve on her forearm to cover the scars when she played basketball. Afraid that those that might see it would immediately assume she was depressed. It wasn't like that. It was more of an "experience". She just wanted to get her mind off of things at that bugged her. She would always wear long t-shirts, or a hoodie over a regular shirt. The only person she talked about it to was Jasper. She showed her the scars back in senior year, and had her back ever since. She could tell that Jasper did her best to keep Peridot as happy as possible.

Peridot felt guilty, having to bring her friend into her pathetic life. Making her worry about her. She wishes she had never stolen her father's pocket knife, eventually having it covered in blood by the end of the day. The girl buried her face in her knees and arms, sighing deeply.

_The Cavaliers take tonights win. 97-105 the final score board. Thank you for tuning in to ESPN-_

The tv made a static buzz as Peridot pressed the power button on the remote. She tossed it on the other side of the couch and stood up. She walked slowly up the stairs, holding onto the railing. She could hear quiet murmuring coming from Jasper's room. It was bad to eavesdrop, but fuck it. Her ear pressed against the door, closing her eyes to concentrate. Nothing.

She was probably hearing things. Peridot has finally gone insane. Realising she wasn't, when she heard more murmuring talking, pressing her ear again against the door.

"Yeah, I'm free tomorrow." There was a short pause. "I guess but why......" It grew quieter, making Peridot frustrated. But it slowly grew back to life. "Sure, around 10 sounds good. Okay, love you, bye."

Peridot knew who she was talking to at this point. Well, not really. It could be her mom ,Barbara, shes a really nice lady. But Peridot was  _pretty_ sure she was talking to Lapis on the phone. Her ear left the wooden door as she walked back to her room. 

Where was Jasper going? Eh, who cares. Not Peridot thats for sure - especially since she was already passed out on her neon green bed, hugging her favorite green alien plushie. The one she won at an amuesment park when she was a little kid. It was a green alien with a black top hat that was slightly damaged from all the years Peridot would chew on it. This was one of Peridot's most adored item in the world.

 

* * *

 

Lapis ended the call. 

She turned to Sapphire, her eyes closed. Letting out a deep sigh, she grabbed her pillow and screamed into it.

"Stop acting so childish Lapis." She grabbed the pillow from the bluenette and tossed it back on the bed. "Now that you can talk to Jasper about it tomorrow, can we please get some rest?"

"Yes mom." Lapis put a grin on her face and fell gracefully on her bed. Hugging the soft pillow she was drooling on earlier. The lights were dimmed by Sapphire, who was definitely not in a good mood. Having to be woken up by the worrisome Lapis in the middle of the night. Sapphire persuaded her to call Jasper to set a meeting with her. Lapis was veerrryy hard to convince, only to call her an hour after she woke Sapphire up.

Lapis was already planning what the conversation would go like. It would start out as:

_"Hey Jasper, we need to break up becase I have a job now and i'm too busy with studies and swimming. Sorry."_

_Nope. Too straight foward. Or how about:_

_" Jasper, darling , we must our seperate ways. It breaks my heart but, I can't have a relationship with someone who only dates me for sex!"_

_Naahhhh...._

 

Lapis eventually fell asleep, worrying about how Jasper would react. She still wanted to be friends, but that would be pretty akward. Her thoughts were interrupted by an alarm clock going off. Sleep goes by really fast!

"Uugggghhhhh." The girl rose from her bed like a zombie to deactivate the clock. 9:30. Wait. 9:30!!???

"Shit! I forgot about Jasper." She jumped out of her bed to get ready. After thinking about Japser all night, she forgot she had to meet up with her at 10. How dumb of her.She was scrambling around the room getting ready, while Sapphire was already sitting at her desk. She watched in amusement as Lapis was freaking out.

 

"And where are you going?" Peridot  leaned against the kitchen island, sipping her cup of black coffee. She watched Jasper put on a coat and head to the door.

"I'm just meeting up with Lapis. She wanted to talk about something important." Jasper hastily said in morose, grabbing her motorcycle carkeys from the coat rack.

"Be sure to be back by 7. The Celtics and the Raptors have a game tonight." She reminded Jaspers with a finger in the air.

The bigger girl rolled her eyes. "The Celtics are gonna win anyways. _Your_ Raptors are gonna eat ass." She teased before sticking a tounge out at Peridot. 

"We'll see."  She shrugged and took another sip of the bitter coffee. "Wanna bet 10 bucks for whoever wins?" She grinned, rubbing her fingers together gesturing money.

"Deal." Jasper laughed before leaving the shorter girl in peace. 

Out of the 30 teams in the NBA, Jasper loved the Celtics - Massachusetts being where she was born and raised the first years of her life - having a slight accent when she moved into Beach City.

Peridot didn't find interest in basketball until she was 8. And that was when her family went to Canada for vacation. Her father took her to a Raptors game while they were there, and it was fantastic! The arena was located at the Air Canada Centre. When they went in the stadium, Peridot's interest in basketball grew. Watching Vince Carter and his amazing dunks,made Peridot want to do that too. She remembered it like it was yesterday that her father bought her a jersey with the number 15 on the back. She wanted to be just like him.

But she couldn't. Mainly because of her height, or lack of vertical. So she decided to not be  _just_ like him. She then discovered about Allen Iverson, also known as "AI" or "The Answer." These were nicknames Peridot often cringed at. His dribbling and crossovers were what made Peridot join junior basketball camp. She would brag about him being his number one fan, and that she would be like him one day. It couldn't be like that, they said. Because your a girl, they said.

_Well look at me now._

Her phone started vibrating on the kitchen counter, moving by the vibrations like magic. She swiped her phone and entered the password to reply to Amethyst in a group chat. Steven, Ruby, and Pearl were in it too. It was vibrating like crazy! (Sex joke intended).

**MiTorta: Yo P! Come play Overwatch with us!**

**Clod: Why? Last time I played, my eyes were bloodshot for playing all day.**

**EternalFlame: Ha! Thats nothing! I played for 3 days straight, only a break for using the bathroom.**

**SaltyBird: Lets just hurry up and start.**

**HotDogs: I wanna be Mccree! He's super cool.**

**Clod: Not as cool as Tracer.**

**MiTorta: OMG NERDS! HURRY UP AND JOIN!**

**EternalFlame: Were waiting for Peridot. Are u joining or what?**

**Clod: Yeah okay fine.**

**SaltyBird: Finally!**

Peridot then spent the rest of her day screaming in her mic, telling Amethyst to heal her. Pearl played as Tracer, telling us nonstop about how hot her character is. Steven kept shooting bullets at a wall because his game froze. While Ruby forgot to put the shield when they were attacking, making them vunerable to the defense. They lost.

Peridot looked up at the clock, it was 4 in the afternoon already. She could hear Ruby screaming into a pillow from into her microphone, while Amethyst and Steven were laughing. Leaving Pearl talking to nobody about her "hot" character. They said their goodbyes to Peridot as she logged off. She spun around in her seat, rubbing her sore and burning eyes. 

She ordered some pizza from Pizza Guys over the phone, wanting just a regular pepperoni and cheese pizza. Living the life. 

The blonde set her phone on the black desk, and continued to spin. Only to pick it up again when it started ringing.

"Hello?" Her voice was raspy from yelling and dehydration. She cleared her throat. "Hello?" She asked again.

"Hello Peridot. Ruby is mad again and she said you had something to do with it." Sapphire's voice was a punch in Peridot's gut. Remembering what happened a few days ago, this would be the right time to apoligize.

"Oh, its just over some stupid game we played earlier." She laughed nervously.

"ITS OVERWATCH, PERIDOT! OVERWATCH IS NOT A STUPID GAME!" Ruby yelled in the backround. Peridot snorted and spoke to Sapphire again.

"Sapphire, I just wanted to apoligize about what happened. I didn't mean to act that way towards you." She said after a long silence. Its hard to apoligize to someone.

"Its okay. Im sorry too - I was just worried - thats all." Sapphire was sincere, though it was hard to tell.

They both hung up after a little small talk - leaving Peridot feeling a bit better to have that off her chest. The silence was killed off by the doorbell ringing. Pizza!

Peridot ran down the stairs, and tripped  as she tumbled down. She groaned and continued her way to the door limping. She reached in her wallet to take out a 20 dollar bill, as she opened the door. Opening the door, she didn't see the pizza man. Instead, a blue haired girl with a worried expression on her face.

"Lazuli? What are you doing here?" The blonde was shocked by the sudden visit. She stuffed her money back in her pocket before opening the door wider. "Come in, I guess."

The girl wearing a blue tanktop and jean shorts shook her head before abruptly speaking. "Have you seen Jasper?! Did she come here earlier?" Her hands were fidgeting.

"Uh...no? I thought she was with her. She said you had to speak with her about something important." The confused Peridot furrowed her eyebrows.

"W-we did but," Lapis gulped. "She ran off when we finished discussing the situation." Her eyes were darting nervously as she took a step in the apartment. "I-I don't know where she went! I-Its all my fault, she-she could be...." She groaned deeply and pressed her forhead against wall.

"What were you guys talking about?" She closed the door behind her and leaned against it. She was growing more and more concerned about her best friend.

"We were hah..ummm..in the middle of bmmfmfm." Lapis mumbled the last part, making it hard to hear. Peridot raised an eyebrow and tilted her head.

"What??" 

"We broke up - and now she hates me forver." She covered her face her hands and shook her head. "It was for a good reason though! She had to understand!" The hands slid of her face and formed a fist.

"And what reason is that?" Peridot was surprised.

"The none of your buisness reasons." Lapis retorted and sat on the kitchen stools. Peridot on the opposite side of the kitchen counter - facing Lapis.

"Excuuussee me?? It is my buisness as a certified best friend of Jasper Q. Walsh - that I involve in everything in her life." Peridot put a hand over her heart dramatically.

"Its just cause of work, and school, and swimming _after_ school." Lapis let her chin rest on her palm. "Its all really stressful, and I can't bring Jasper in that stress life." She looked up at Peridot, who was staring at her with starry eyes. 

"W-Why are you looking at me like that?" Lapis turned away in embarrassment to avoid eye contact with the currently adorable Peridot.

"You're a hard worker!" Peridot threw her arms in the arm with enthusiasm. "You shouldn't let relationships ruin your life." She said the last sentence in a calmer tone. Peridot learned that lesson from her own experience.

Lapis just shrugged and sighed. "I just can't stop feeling bad. I didn't want to break Jasper's heart." Her eyes looked to the side. She looked at a picture frame of Jasper when she was a baby. Lapis couldn't help but snort quietly at the sight. 

"Im _sure_  Jasper wouldn't be heartbroken. She just needs a little time to herself. She is probably at some strip club, drinking her soul away." Peridot said with a grin on her face, remembering the last time Jasper went to a strip club.

"Thats another reason I broke with her." Lapis sighed and bit her lip. "She drinks too much sometimes - she even comes back home just for sex." She scoffed. "I think that this is for the better."

Peridot watched the glooming Lapis. She stuffed her hands in her pockets.

"You can always come to me when uh-you need to talk about these kinds of situations." Peridot turned away in embarassment. Why did she just say that? This is not something Peridot would do - let alone say. She wasn't commited to let someone pour their feeling onto her. Or was she. Her face was tingly and burning. 

"Thank you." Lapis thanked her with a smile. Peridot looked at the smiling girl, causing her to turn away as well. Cliche alert. This alert kept going in Peridot's head as she kept looking at the embarrassed Lapis.

The mood was interrupted by a doorbell. 

 Lapis stood up abruptly. "Maybe its Jasper." She walked to the door as fast she could. It was a fucking pizza guy.

Peridot shuffled right next to Lapis - laughing nervously as she gave a twenty to the man. The shorter girl walked back to the seat disappointed. She heard the door shut and saw Peridot walk into the kitchen whistling a song - holding a pizza box - as she set it on the table.

 "Want some?" Peridot being generous was very rare. But she just wanted to brighten up the bluenette's day. She held out a plate with a pizza slice - nice and hot - on it. Lapis nodded and gently took the plate from the taller girl's hands - as the blonde gave a heartwarming smile. 

Oh god. What was up with Peridot? She would never ever ever give random smiles.  _Especially_ if she was giving someone some food. The look she would give Amethyst or Steven when they asked for would was the opposite. A scowl - that was what she would give them. She looked up at the clock and a slight grin approached her face. It was 7.

The kitchen and living room were seperated, but there was a huge gap in the middle of the wall - making it able to eat and watch tv at the same time. She made her way to the living room and turned the tv on to ESPN. She remembered she had a Camp Pining Hearts marathon recorded - and decided to watch it after the game. Going back to the kitchen to cut some pizza, Lapis spoke.

"I don't understand basketball." She mumbled, taking her first bite out of the pizza.

"I don't understand the fouls they call." Peridot replied wryly, knowing what she said was true. "What do you see in basketball?"

"Sweaty guys running back and forth on the court, taking turns shooting balls." Lapis was talking with her mouth full. She gulped down the food. "Of course, thats only my opinion."

Peridot laughed. "Thats pretty accurate." She leaned against the counter across from Lapis and took a bite of the pizza. Heaven on Earth. 

Lapis stared at the oblivious Peridot eating the pizza. The way that her jawline moved when she chewed was three letters.

H.O.T. 

Lapis could feel her cheeks get hotter and hotter as they boiled in red. She was gonna pass out. Peridot - who was unaware - was watching the game as Isaiah Thomas did a nice little dribble move and do a step back shot. She was aware of every action the players did. The way they shoot, the way they dribble, the way they look at the fans. 

Her observations were nothing compared to how hard she observed Camp Pining Hearts. That was the good shit right there. Even though Season 5 was crap, she would replay it over, and over, and over. She turned to look at Lapis, who was staring blankly at her. The blonde waved her hands in front of the girl to grab her attention.

"Oh I-Im sorry!" Lapis was caught in the act of being a creep. This only made it worse - as her cheeks replaced the color red with an even brighter color. Peridot grew concern instead of feeling happy she was blushing.

"Are you okay? Do you need to go home now?" The taller girl set the finished plate of the now gone pizza in the sink.

Lapis was too embarrassing to even speak. She only shook her head vigorously, making the blonde worry even more.

_Oh Shit Waddup. Here comes that Peridot._

Peridot approached Lapis to take her empty plate and put it in the sink as well. 

"Well....." Peridot scratched the back of her neck, not knowing what to do. Their conversation was over a long time ago, leaving them in akward silence. "I can drive you home if you want."

Lapis shook her head again - finally calming down - she stood up and sat on the very right end of the couch.

"I'm gonna watch this first." Lapis was staring at the screen, watching men run back and forth. She didn't understand anything that was going on as she watched. Her eyes narrowed, trying to tell the difference of them men. They all looked the same from this point of view.

"I could explain how the game works." Peridot sat on the opposite end of the couch and pointed at the tv. "If you want me to - its fine if you dont!" Her hands were up in defense.

Lapis snorted at Peridot's expression. "Yeah sure, Coach Dork."

Peridot's mouth was ajar, her face was blank. She blushed, and turned to the tv.  _What am I doing?? Why am I suddenly dedicated to explaining basketball to her?_

Time passed by - with Peridot explaining to Lapis on how the game works. She told her about the five positions, or how the teams take turns in possession. She also explained how fouls worked - and how the referees would call them. 

Listening to Peridot's annoying childish voice was nice for Lapis. She listened to what Peridot was saying - but she just wanted her to talk. She wanted to hear her voice, thats all. That annoying voice was an angel in disguise.

_Shit, i'm doing it again._

She took her eyes off of Peridot to calm herself. She looked at the bright screen, as green light glares from it - that being the color of the court's center. 

 "And thats how a flagrant foul gets called." Peridot pointed at the tv, finishing her sentence before letting out a deep exhale to catch her breath.

_Is there anything thats worth more than peace and love on the planet Earth. Come on sing-_

Peridot's phone rang a catchy song. It sounds like...Steven? 

Peridot scrambled to find her phone in her hoodie while giving an akward smile. "Excuse me." Peridot walked back to the kitchen to answer the phone.

"What do you want Amethyst?" The blonde's  voice was deadpan.

"P! Come pick up Jasper, shes drunk  _again!"_ Amethyst laughed.

Peridot looked at Lapis - who was watching the tv expressionless - and opened her mouth to reply. "I'll be there in half an hour." She hung up and walked over to stand in front of Lapis.

_As we go into halftime, we interv-_

Peridot turned the TV power button off - making Lapis confused. "What's wrong Peri?"

"Im gonna uhm..take you to your dorm." Peridot said akwardly jingling the keys in her hand.

"Oh. Okay then.." Lapis stood up from the couch, her legs numb from all the sitting. "I'll tell you the directions while you drive."

The two girls walk in out the house and in the car - both not speaking another word. It was about 8 pm and it was chilly. The wind was stagnant, but coldness lingered the air, sending chills up Lapis's back. The chills went away when Peridot noticed Lapis's behavior, and cranked up the heater.

"Is that better?" Peridot twisted the knobs to the right. Lapis nodded and felt more relaxed. Her muscles weren't tensed anymore as she slumped into the car seat. The blonde watched in amusement and snorted.

"Whats so funny?" Lapis mumbled, her eyes closed.

"You're not that bad, Lazuli." Peridot grinned as she started the car to hear it rumble.

"What do you mean i'm not that bad?" Lapis laughed. "I'm great!" The shorter girl looked at the frozen Peridot. She couldn't tell whether she was smiling or giving her a weird look thanks to the dark. She just assumed she was smiling.

"Yeah whatever. So the dorms are just a couple blocks down from the Uni, right?" Peridot turned her body around and to look behind the car while backing up from the parking lot. 

"Mmhmm, Ill just tell you where to turn from there." Lapis hummed in response. 

The first couple minutes of the car ride were just silent. All that could be heard was the humming of the engine.

"Whats up with your ring tone?" Lapis smiled, picking up Peridot's phone from the middle console. 

"Steven wrote me a song one day when I was sad so..." Peridot shrugged. " I set it as my ringtone."

"Mind if I listen to it?" She waved the girl's phone in the air. Peridot snatched the phone out of her hand and stuffed it into her hoodie pocket. "Hey!" Lapis hissed, trying to take the pocket from the hoodie.

"Lazuli! Im trying to drive here!" Peridot was serious. She smacked Lapis's hand and gripped on the steering wheel - scooting closer in her seat. "We could seriously get injured." Her tone was deep, locking her eyes on the road. 

" _We could seriously get injured."_ Lapis mimicked Peridot in a childish voice.

"Stop that." She scowled at Lapis.

_"Stop that."_

"You're so annoying."

" _You're so annoying."_  She stuck her tongue out at the fuming Peridot. Teasing her was alot of fun.

They approached a familiar stoplight that Sapphire and her would walk by going to the Uni. They were almost there.

"If I let you listen to a part of it, will you stop whatever you're doing." Peridot gestured with her phone in her hand. Lapis nodded in excitement as Peridot tapped a bunch of things on her phone. It started playing music. The blonde set it on the middle console.

_Life and Death and love and birth_

_And peace and war on the planet Earth_

_Is there anything thats worth more than peace and love on the planet earth. Woaah_

_Come on sing it with me._

_The wods relate to the key._

_If its a pattern! If its a pattern! Then repeat after me._

_Life and death and love and birth!_

_Good now say Mi Fa Mi Mi Fa Li Ti La_

_And peace and war on the planet Earth!_

The audio clip immediately ended, making Lapis snap back into reality. Steven's voice was very much like a pubescent boy in that song. His voice cracked at least 5 times. It was very catchy with the ukulele he was playing. She remembered he would try and give her ukelele lessons when she first moved into Beach City.

"Lazuli? I already parked the car in front of the building. You can get out now." Peridot said, turning her phone off and stuffing it back in her hoodie pockets. "How was the little concert?"

 "It needed more flashing lights and crowds." Lapis laughed. "But I really loved the artist."

That left them both laughing akwardly in the car. Very Akwardly. Lapis cleared her throat and stepped out of the vehicle.

"Thanks for the ride, Peri." She smiled brightly at the blushing girl. That was the nickname only Jasper used. Oh right, Jasper. This night was too good to be true. Peridot didn't know what to say back. So she just blurted out random shit.

"N-No prob, Bob." Peridot sounded like her Uncle Billy. She hated that man for teaching her this cheesy saying. Peridot looked at Lapis for a while as the girl looked back. They both had neutral expressions.

"Its Lapis." She said wryly before giving a grin and walking to the building door. The bluenette waved bravely as she waved back. 

She started the engine again and drove down to The Temple. Leaving her alone with her thoughts and feelings. She really should fix that goddamn radio - for she couldn't stand anymore silent rides. Eventually arriving at the beach, where The Temple was located. Nice for beach parties.

A tall woman was carrying Jasper in a cradle, making her look like a baby. Peridot snorted as she turned the keys to stop the engine and stepped out of the car - her hands on her hips. Her eyes followed the lady as she neared the car. Garnet opened the passenger seat and stuffed Jasper inside, buckling her seatbelt for her. 

"She wouldn't stop drinking." Garnet had a slight frown on her face, shaking her head. "She eventually passed out at 10 shots."

"Did she talk about what happened with her and Lapis?" Peridot leaned forward, her elbows on the car roof.

"She wouldn't stop talking about it." The taller woman adjusted her sunglasses. Garnet's wearing sunglasses. At night.

"How was she feeling towards the situation?" 

"Ask her for yourself." Garnet slammed the passenger seat door shut. "I can't fill you in on any further details."

"Good enough." Peridot shrugged and opened the driver's seat door and sat down. Garnet gave a thumbs up - as Peridot returned the gesture - and started the engine. She looked over to her right to see the snoring Jasper. Her eyebrows were knitted, and her lips pouted, making her look mad. Poor girl.

It was about a 10 minute drive home - leaving Peridot carrying the brute all the way back from their car to her room. The bigger girl's armed was wrapped around Peridot as she carried her to the room. Jesus Christ! How does Garnet do this every week!? 

Before turning off the lights, she heard Jasper mumble in her sleep.

"I love youu....Laaapisss." She hugged the orange pillow on her bed. Peridot couldn't help but feel bad for the girl. She flicked the lightswitch downwards to turn it off before leaving the girl in peace.

She changed into her regular green alien pajamas and brushed her teeth. Peridot made her way downstairs to watch some TV.

_The Raptors win tonight! Scoreboard was dominating! 101-85. Thank you for tuning in to ESPN as we say goodnight._

Peridot chuckled, remembering about the bet.The blonde didn't have the heart to ask Jasper for money right after her breakup. She stood up from her couch and reached into her wallet. She put a ten dollar bill on the counter with a sticky note right next to it.

  _Hey Jasper, heres that money for that bet we made. Remember how we switched teams to make it more fun? Heres your cash you asshole._

_-Love , Peridot_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't play Overwatch, but my uncle loves it. I just searched up a bunch of characters and put it in there.  
> -Kpala


	5. Easy Like Sunday Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jasper leaves for Boston, and Peridot takes a walk. Lapis starts her first day on the job at the library cafe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it guys! 3 2 1 Lapidot Blastoff!  
> This chapter is now when all the good stuff starts happening. 
> 
> I had heavy inspiration for this when I went to the mall yesterday to buy some Converse. 
> 
> -Kpala

Peridot stepped into Jasper's messy room holding a breakfast tray that consisted of bacon, eggs, french toast, and a protein shake. The room was a total wreck, looking like a middle-aged man that worked out all day and had no life owned it. Beer cans scattered across the floor along with dirty muscle shirts and boxers. Metal weight stacks were towered in the corner of the room. Peridot walked toward the orange bed, only to see a yellow sticky note on the orange pillow.

 

_Thanks for the money Peri. I know this is sudden but I booked a trip to Boston yesterday to visit my moms and pops for a while. I'll be back before the end of the month to make it in time for you're birthday. Look after Rocky for me while i'm gone._

_-Jasper_

Peridot was worried for Jasper - despite her being a big toughy on the inside - she was still a human being. The bigger girl always had something on her mind, so she would always take some trip to relax. Peridot didn't mind that at all, but she just wanted Jasper to feel okay without having to travel across the fucking country. The girl stepped away from the bed to walk over to the glass tank across the room. She neared her face to the glass, being barely an inch away from it to see the red ear slider turtle in it's shell. Peridot always hated that fucking turtle - always biting and hissing at her whenever Jasper took it out - made her wanna throw it out the window. That would be animal cruelty of course. She tapped the glass with her nails as the turtle responded with a raspy hiss. Asshole ninja turtle.

The blonde took the tray off of the nightstand and took a step out of the room. Actually breathing air that wouldn't pollute her lungs with Jasper's horrible room odors.

"Looks like i'm home alone." Peridot mumbled to herself with bacon chews in her mouth. Thats how she would cook the bacon. It would be soft and chewy, the eggs would be sunny side up with those orange crisps on the edges. Or at least thats how Jasper liked to eat it every Sunday. Now the blonde was eating the meal, by herself. She took a glimpse at the window and watched the yellow and orange leaves drift in the gusts of wind. The sky was fairly grey since it was nearing the end of August. That meant her birthday was just around the corner. Hooray for coming out of a vagina!

She never really enjoyed celebrating her birthday - never really seeing the whole point of it - but went along with it anyways. Washing the dishes, she started thinking about what to do today. It seemed like a nice day to start catching pokemon, but Jasper isn't here to do it with her. Ever since they downloaded that app, they've spent hours walking in circles in the park. Looking like insane zombies that shouted whenever they caught a rare one. Peridot chuckled before going upstairs to get ready for the day. Taking a shower and slipping some hoodie and jeans for the day.

Locking the front door and wrapping a green scarf around her neck made her feel nice and toasty. Her breath would make a foggy vapor whenever she sighed. Even though the area she lived in was near a beach, the weather here was fucking weird. It was pretty much all the seasons over here. Starting her morning walk that she has never done before, she felt  _weird._ As if someone was staring at her right in the back of the head. She turned around quite abruptly to make sure nobody was following her or anything. Hell no, she was not gonna go through that scary movie shit. Peridot quickened her pace dramatically, looking like one of those jogging moms. She heard footsteps behind her - her natural 'fuck this shit i'm out' instincts kicked in - causing her to go in a full speed run. 

This felt good. Not the fact she was being followed, but the fact she was running. The fall breeze swiftly blew in her face and through her floofy hair. Her steps were long and heavy as she ran on the neighborhood sidewalks. The leaves crinkled as she stepped on about a hundred running by. This reminded her of when she was younger. Running down leafy hills her father owned, jumping in piles of leaves, laughing, smiling. She stopped. Taking heavy breaths as let her hands rest on her knees. How far did she run? A mile? 2 miles? She lost track, and now she was already at that donut shop Steven loves. The blonde could use a coffee this early in the morning. A jingling sound tickled her ears as Sadie looked at her and gave her a welcoming smile.

"Peridot! Haven't seen you in a while. How have you been." The short blonde was already pouring Peridot a mug of black coffee, knowing she would always order one when she would visit. "I heard from Steven you just got back from a trip to Empire City."

"I've been good actually. And the trip wasn't half bad." Peridot kindly took the mug and took a sip. It was hot and bitter, just like the lie she told her. Thankfully, the shorter blonde took the bait and didn't catch Peridot's bluff. Instead, she just gave a happy nod.

"How are things with you and Lars? Did you guys go out or something while I was gone?" Peridot knew Sadie had a big crush on Lars, her co-worker, who is unfortunately absent today. He was the same guy who worked at the uniform store she went to. Sadly, he is too much of a douchebag to notice Sadie. She sorta felt that 'notice me senpai' vibe around them.

"Yes actually, we went to the movies together a couple days ago. We aren't official but...y'know." Sadie let her chin rest in the palm of her hand while she twirled a lock of her curly hair. Peridot nearly spit out the coffee she had in her mouth, swallowing down before speaking.

"He had the guts to ask you out!?" Peridot was surprised. Sadie shook her head.

"I asked him out. I know that he was a big jerk but, he changed a great amount." The lady was blushing a rose red, she was definitely into that guy. Peridot nodded slowly, believing what Sadie said was true. "At least he won't be seeing anymore beach babes with me around." The shorter blonde joked. Peridot found this genuinely funny, and laughed like she was  _normal._ It wasn't fake or over exaggerateed, it felt comfortable. This was something she hasn't felt for a while - to talk casually to a friend - was nice.

The bell jingled, catching Peridot's attention was a fluffy haired man with an amazing smile on his face. "Cookie Cat!!!!" He yelled as he hugged a small refrigerator on the counter. Peridot snorted and Sadie gave her a look. Steven was really a precious cinnamon bun, despite his manly and lumbersexual appearance.

After purchasing the frozen treat, Steven and Peridot walked side by side down the pavement. How could he eat that in this chilly weather? Who cares, he's a grown man.

"So...Jasper left huh?" His mouth full, with cookie cat bits. He took another bite as Peridot nodded.

"She's having  _problems_ again." Peridot shoved her hands in her hoodie pockets and let out a sigh. She watched the fog quickly turn invisible. "I don't think she should leave the state whenever something bothers her. It costs a ton, and its making us distant."

"I understand that. You should probably talk to her about it." He smiled sweetly before taking another bite of the ears. " Who knows...maybe she could bring you along."

"I did but..." Peridot bit her lip - last time didn't turn out well - Jasper just left again. " She won't listen." She turned to look at Steven, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Steven?"

Peridot spun in a full circle before seeing Steven running up to her. He was holding a toy? "Here you go." Steven held Peridot's freezing cold hands and gently placed the cowboy toy in her palm. "These are called G.U.Y.S, I used to play with them when I was younger. So here!" His face lit up when Peridot closeley examined the figurine. It had Steven's signature on the bottom. The paint was chipping off, making it look really old. She stuffed it in her pockets.

"Why are you giving me this?" Peridot was utterly confused on the reason why Steven would bring this toy out of nowhere. 

"Well, I use this as a charm to help talk to people. I don't know but..It just helps me communicate better with friends." Steven looked at Peridot with warm eyes, giving a bunch of amusing gestures. "I guess this would help you talk to Jasper."

Peridot didn't believe in all that mumbo jumbo stuff. Charms,voodoo, wishing on stars. She would wish on stars and hold bunches of good luck treasures when she was younger. They never worked, at least not for her. She threw those away years ago. But she had to keep this one toy Steven gave her. She smiled and thanked him. He evntually ran off to do something with Connie at the theater with Jamie the mailman. 

Here she was, walking down the sidewalks on an almost deserted neighborhood. The only person that walked by her in the last 30 minutes was Sour Cream, who was to busy playing with glowsticks to even notice her. She didn't really care and just kept on walking to wherever the pavements take her. Peridot looked around and saw the Uni down the road. Lapis lived around here, but she didn't really feel like going to her place. She just wanted to go somewhere to go on her phone and drink her coffee. The perfect place popped into her mind as she walked farther down the sidewalk.

* * *

 

 

Lapis had to wake up early today to get ready for her shift at the library cafe. She just called it cafe because that's the area she was working in anyways. Her first day on the job wasn't a school day, thank god - considering she would have to learn how things work over there while having homework that same day. Sapphire left to visit Ruby not long ago to have....y'know. Relationship goals.

Her uniform was pretty simple with it only being a thin button up shirt and black pants. Her apron was still yet to be reecieved at the cafe. Her hair was all over the place after taking a shower, making her almost cry in frustration. Before leaving the bathroom, she would make a couple of faces in the mirror. She looked at the clock, having 10 minutes to walk there and clock in was plenty of time. Lapis took her phone from her nightstand and shoved it deep in her pocket. 

The bluenette was now walking down the cracked pavements, old and faded. It was really windy and chilly, making chills go throughout her body. She liked this feeling though. The thrill and sensation of chills wanted to make her dance - right here in the middle of the road. But she didn't of course, because who knows what creeps might be watching her.

The cafe was cozy and smelled like ground coffee beans. The building was very warm and it had that home-ey kind if feeling. Once you enter, there is a cafe to you're right, and tons of rows of tall bookshelves in front of you. There weren't tons of people, but there were plenty in here. Not too many to make you feel uncomfortable. The cafe was pretty simple as well - the sign being 'CAFE' in all capitals - with only about 3 people working there, including Lapis herself. She walked through the backdoor and the strong aroma of coffee blasted in her nose. Holy shit, she couldn't smell anything but coffee and bread in the oven.

"So you must be the new one?" A female voice spoke behind Lapis, startling her. She turned around to see a black girl wearing the same uniform, had her arms crossed in front of her. Her expression wasn't exactly welcoming, but it was a bit friendly with that grin on her face.

"Im Jenny, and you must be Lapis right?" She stuck out her hand fot her to shake it. Lapis was unaware of all these events happening, she was late on the handshake. The girl was pretty, her hair was in a bob and large golden earrings hung from her earlobes. She had this thick accent, but Lapis couldn't make out what nationality she was. Suddenly, a man with pointy shades appeared behind Jenny. Lapis suddenly shifted her eyes to him, making Jenny turn around as well.

"Im Buck. Buck Dewey. Nice to meet you." His voice was calm, but deadpan. He shook Lapis's hand as well, not changing his expression even a little bit. Lapis felt  _uncomfortable_ that so many things are occuring so suddenly. She needed to stay calm, calm, calm. She needed to learn how to deal with situations like this without panicking. She took a deep breath and announced to both of them.

"Im Lapis. I'm hoping to get to know you guys better while we work." She gave a sweet smile, doing her best to act  _casual._ It seemed to work, seeing that Jenny had a happy expression as well. Even Buck - it wasn't really showing - but she could feel the happiness in him. I think. 

"Well! What're we waiting for Buck! Lets show her around." Jenny grabbed Lapis by the wrist gently to guide her through the kitchen and workplaces. She and Buck taught her how to pretty much do everything. Work the cash register, make the perfect coffee, clean the area properly, and even how to talk to people nicely instead of being a complete idiot like how Lapis talked to people all the time. Wow!

Of course, you couldn't learn how to perfectly master all the assignments in one day. Lapis blundered on the coffee pot and accidentally put too much beans. Buck and Jenny were more than happy to help Lapis out every now and then. Nobody is perfect after all. The three if them shared stories of their first days on the job. Buck explained how he mopped the floors and forgot to put the wet floor sign. Jenny told her how she put juice in the coffee pot when she was drunk on the job. Lapis got caught up in the moment, and forgot about the bread in the oven.

"Shiiiit." She whispered to herself as she took out the tray of cookies out of the oven. They weren't burnt, but the dozen of cookies almost did. "Thank god." She gently placed the tray of baked goods on the kitchen counter to let them cool down. Lapis was actually  _enjoying_ working. That was very weird but....cool. She removed the blue oven mits slowly off her hands and hung them on a hook on the wall. The blue haired girl was told to look after the cafe while the other two were gone. Where did they go? She didn't know, and didn't realy want any buisness to that. She did what she was told and watched random teenagers and students come in and walk out of the automatic sliding doors. They all looked sad or depressed, walking emotionless around the library.

The quiet murmurs of people whispering was pretty calming to her. Though, she prefers loud crowds and blasting music. That of course would increase the chance of her having another anxiety attack. She's been having those since she was what - 14? 15? The attacks weren't severe enough for her to be given a prescription of anti-anxiety pills. That was a good thing. The anxiety attacks fortunately wouldn't go off while she was swimming. But Lapis knew it still lingered around endlessly in her brain. Her attention was caught by a fluff of blonde hair, bobbing up and down while the person walked.

Lapis's shoes clicked on the tile floors as she walked towards the cash register counter. She squinted her eyes to look at the tall figure, before realising the owner of the blonde floofy hair as she sat down on one of the library lounge chairs and take her phone out. 

* * *

 

Peridot listened to her phone dialing Jasper's phone number. Her excitement grew, wanting to know what Jasper was up to. Maybe she was on the plane, looking at a penis shaped cloud and laughing at it. Or maybe she was checking out a hot flight attented, asking her if she liked nuts or pretzels. Peridot was smiling like at idiot, staring at a tall brown shelf that had hundreds of books in it. Her smile went away when she heard female voice answer the call.

_"Sorry, the current device you are trying to contact has been deactivated or turned off. Please try again later."_

_I forgot that you can't really contact people on planes. Fuck._

 Peridot the end call button and stuffed the device back in her hoodie pockets. She rubbed her temples with her index and middle finger - her head aching from frustration. Who knows what could be happening to Jasper on her flight. It could crash! It could explode in mid-air due to turbulence failure! She could accidently fall out of the widow! The blonde was thinking too much, worsening her headache. She left out a deep sigh and slouched in the leather chair. Peridot's eyes darted around the library, quickly examining everything in the building with glances. She saw people reading fucked up books that must have been in those shelves since the beginning of time. Her eyes also caught a couple making out behind a bookshelf, eating out each others faces.

She averted the sight, looking at the little cafe to her right. A couple of people sat at tiny tables, drinking coffee and using their laptops. They all looked like teenager students with their style of clothing. There was a slim girl wiping the counters in the kitchen, glancing at Peridot now and then. She wore one of those uniform visors that covered the top of her head and an apron. From far away, Peridot didn't care - looking back at her phone. That is until, the hairs on the back of her neck rose. The sensation told her someone was watching her. 

Could it be the same person following her earlier? 

Her head turned in many directions, looking around for any suspicious looking people. Especially 40 year old men with a seductive glare. That was stereotypical, but thats how it was most of the time. Her attention was drawn to two teenagers walk through the doors - a boy and a girl were talking about something - they mentioned the name Lapis. Peridot perked up, straightening her seated position. The two walked in the backdoor of that cafe and disppeared in the kitchen. Maybe those were Lapis's classmates or something. Peridot stood up - her joints popped from all the sitting - and walked over to the cafe. The more she neared, the more the strong smell of coffee invaded her nose. This was making her eyes sting and causing her glasses to fog. She couldn't see shit.

The blonde walked over to the counter and removed her glasses to wipe it with the sleeve of her hoodie. Her green eyes darted up to see a dark skinned girl in front of her.

"Hey Peridot! Haven't seen you since the graduation!" The girl spoke in enthusiasm, wrapping her arms around Peridot to give her a hug. The nearly blind blonde was confused - not knowing who she was hugging - she perched the round glasses on her nose. Jenny.

"Nice to see you too.." Peridot groaned and struggled out of the hug. She finally broke free, almost falling on her butt. The blonde mumbled nonsense under her breath, before waving to Buck Dewey as he passed by. He gave a thumbs up. "How's your dad's pizza buisness going?" She returned her attention to Jenny. The girl rolled her eyes and let out a sigh.

"Kiki has that shit under control. I hate working at that greasy place. It smelled like fish stank in there." Jenny crossed her arms and looked at Buck. He was nodding in agreement. "Besides, I actually get paid here." She grinned. The girl smiled and put her hands on the counter.

"What's your order Madame Peri?" Jenny asked in a funny tone. Peridot snorted and thought about it fot a while. She just had coffee like 10 minutes ago, so why did she come over here? Peridot realised that this place serves baked goods as well when she saw a display of them. The glass was thick - her nails tapped the glass in synchronization as something caught her eye.

In the display was a green sponge cake in the shape of a triangle - whipped cream topped on the cake. - and chocolate drizzle topped it. The cream in the cake was white, supposedly vanilla cream. The sight of this delicious beauty made Peridot's mouth water. She crouched to get a better look at the treat, and pressed a finger against the glass. She looked like a little kid. "What's this?"

"Oh, thats our lime and cream cake. Sour Cream loves that shit." Jenny laughed as she looked over the counter to peek at the crouching girl. "Want a slice?" She asked, sliding the glass door behind the counter and grabbing a plate. Peridot watched Jenny take the cake she was looking at from the glass refrigerator and set it on the counter. It looked even tastier up close. The blonde was about to take the plate and walk away, but the other girl cleared her throat. "Just because you're my friend, that doesn't mean its free." Jenny gave the starry eyed girl a wink. "That'll be 3 bucks."

Peridot hastily took a 5 dollar bill out of her wallet and handed it to Jenny. "Keep the change." She wanted to eat the cake right now before the mood disappears. The other girl handed Peridot a plastic fork before giving her a smile and put the cash in the cash register. The blonde stood where she was and leaned on the counter. Her elbow supported her position, as her legs were crossed and her body in a tilted angle. Peridot jabbed the fork in the moist cake and sliced a piece of the lime cream goodness. She stuffed the cake covered fork in her mouth and savored every chew. Her eyes widen, and she stopped mid chew.

_HOLY MOTHER OF GOD! BLESS THIS VERY CAKE IN MY MOUTH AND SEND ME OF INTO THE HEAVENS TO EAT THIS EVERYDAY OF MY LIFE. I DON'T CARE IF I GET DIABETES AS LONG AS I SLEEP WITH THIS CAKE EVERY NIGHT._

She gulped down the piece of cake rather quickly to take another bit of the lime cake. Jenny watched in amuesment, thinking of Peridot as a little child. "How's the cake?"

"Iff goomm!" Peridot mumbled loudly 'Its good!' with cake in her mouth. She gulped down the chewed up cake and felt something start up in her chest. It was a weird feeling....It was as if she was gonna throw up. 

"*hic* Aww shi-*hic*." Peridot has gotten the hiccups.

Jenny laughed hysterically. "Do you want me to burp you, little baby Peri?" She mocked her with a motherly voice. Peridot frowned, her shoulders bounced whenever she hiccuped. Buck Dewey joined in as well, noticing Peridot's problem. He smirked before walking back into the kitchen, the door slamming behind him.

"Can I please *hic* have some fucking wa-*hic*-ter?!" Peridot couldn't control it. She gripped  on the counter quite roughly and shot Jenny a look. The girl calmed down the laughing and took a couple of deep breaths. She nodded before opening her mouth to yell. 

* * *

"LAPIS! WE NEED A GLASS OF WATER ASAP PLEASE!" Jenny's sudden yelling startled Lapis, who was in the kitchen baking some muffins. She dropped the spoon of sugar and turned to look at Jenny. All she could see was the top of her head - the reason being was because Lapis was in the kitchen - the rooms were seperate and the only way to see Jenny was through the small square glass on the door. She let out a deep sigh before walking over to the water dispenser and grabbing a styrofoam cup. She pushed down the blue button to dispense the cold water, feeling the cup shake as it filled up. "Coming!!!" Lapis yelled back. She quickly walked out of the kitchen, the door squeaked as she pushed it to walk towards the counter.

And there she saw Peridot and Jenny laughing at her hysterically. "Go ahead and give this dork a water. I'll be right back!" The girl wheezed from laughing. Peridot's hiccups were absolutley adorable. The blonde looked at Lapis in an irritated scowl as she took the cup from her extended hand. Peridot chugged the liquid down, her throat slightly moving up and down as she drank. Which Lapis found very attractive. She averted her eyes from Peridot to look at the cake she had been eating. It was half eaten. The blonde let out a refreshed sigh as she wiped her mouth with her sleeve.

"Thanks." Peridot looked at Lapis and smiled a little. She tossed the empty cup into the trash bin right next to her.

"Don't sweat it." Lapis looked at the smirking Peridot. Her eyes were sparkling....have they always sparkled this way before? The shorter girl took the plate from the counter handed it to th blonde. "Are you gonna finish this?"

Peridot nodded with excitement and took the plate to stuff more cake in her mouth. She looked like a little kid with that happy expression on her face. Lapis couldn't help but stare at the feasting Peridot. Eventually, she finished the lime green cake - crumbs and spots of whipped cream - were left over as she threw it away. The blonde looked at Lapis and opened her mouth to speak.

"Jasper left." Peridot cleared her troat before speaking again. "She went to Boston to visit Barbara and Rick." Lapis looked at her with a confused expression. There was a smile on her face though. "Thats Jasper's parents if you don't know." The taller girl quickly explained.

"I see..." The bluenette bit her lip and looked down at the white tile floors. "When is she coming back?" She looked up again to face Peridot with worried eyes.

"She'll be back by the end of this month." Peridot said calmly, and put a hand on Lapis's head. "And don't worry, its not your fault she left." The blonde quickly retracted her hand when she saw the girl's reaction. The shorter girl's blush was adorable as fuck. She was available too....FUCK. Her hands quickly went into her pockets as her eyes examined the cafe. "You never told me you worked here by the way."

"Never had the reason to." Lapis pulled out a stool from under the side counters. It was pretty cool they had little compartments under the counters like that. "It's not that interesting - all that I do here is serve people food." Lapis shrugged, giving Peridot a grin. " _And_ giving people with hiccups water."

Peridot blushed and slouched her shoulders, trying to be relaxed. This very girl that was in front of her was the cutest thing Lapis has ever encountered. Maybe Lapis was just being a thristy bitch after a breakup. That wasn't like her though, she liked Peridot even before the break up. The bluenette had to make a move - knowing that this dork wasn't going to be the first one to do it - she opened her lips to speak. "Here, I'll tell you my number."

"Wait wha-" Peridot was confused by the sudden change of pace Lapis set. The girl was already reciting the number, forcing Peridot to take her phone out and mumble the exact numbers as she typed it down. "What will I need  _this_ for?" The blonde waved her phone in the air in front of Lapis and raised and eyebrow. Thats right, what did she need her number for? Why did she just give Peridot her number?! Fuck fuckity fuck fuck,

"To uh- you know...call me?" Lapis sounded sarcastic, not really meaning to. But it was pretty obvious that Peridot got the idea of calling her. She responded with a simple 'oh' before sticking the phone back in her pocket and giving Lapis a cute smile. Holy shit how did Peridot not have a girlfriend!?

"Now if you excuse me, I have a job to attend to." She said playfully before leaving Peridot alone in front of the counter and going back in the kitchen. She closed the door behind her and let out a deep sigh. In front of her was Jenny, her hands cupped over her mouth and her eyes opened wide. "You like her!" Jenny squealed into her hands jumping up and down. Lapis was stunned and frozen.

"H-How long were you watching?!" She grabbed Jenny by the shoulders and prayed for the right response. Jenny gave the bluenette a shit eating grin before removing her hands off her shoulders. "Long enough to know _you_ like the blondie. _Girrrll_ you got some good taste." She winked at the blushing Lapis. She couldn't believe what was happening right now. Jenny thinks that Lapis likes Peridot! Is that how everyone will see her affection toward Peridot as??!! _Liking_ her?!

"Don't worry, I won't tell another soul. I 'Jenny' promise." The darker girl spoke genuinely, giving a sweet smile that calmed Lapis down a bit. Could she really trust this girl? The one she has barely known for a day?! Oh fuck it, whats the worse that can happen. Lapis nodded in reponse to Jenny's promise, before getting another grin from her. "What do you like about her?" She whispered.

"N-Nothing! I hate her." Why was Lapis still denying when Jenny clearly knew she liked the blonde. Whats the point?

Jenny scoffed in amusement. "You're right, Lapis. Whats like about Peridot? It couldn't _possibly_ be her annoying yet charming voice. Or her nice blonde fluffy hair." She teased Lapis. Those were the things that she craved for. "Or what about her sparkling emerald green eyes!" Lapis was blushing so hard right now. Theres no doubt that she could be seen through by Jenny. It was super obvious. The shorter girl laughed at Lapis's expression and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"You know, I used to be teammates with Peridot back in highschool - and i'm hoping to be her teammate now in college." Jenny started, her voice calm and nice. "She's a lot more attractive when she's changing in the locker room." Her tone broke into a hysterical laugh, she gripped her abdomen - hurting from laughter.

Lapis covered her face in frustration and sat on the floor. She listened toJenny laughing and the clock ticking loudly.

Theres no doubt that Lapis has fallen for that blonde babe.

* * *

 

The blonde was now roaming around the town mindlessly, not knowing what to do for the rest of her Sunday. She somehow ended up walking on the beach, watching the cold ocean waves and tides sway. The Temple wasn't that far from where she was right now, maybe she could pay the group a little visit. The sand crackled beneath her shoes as she walked to the wooden loft. It was quite, so she knew that there wasn't a party happening in there. She was greeted by a short girl when she opened the glass door. "Yo waddup Peri!"

Amethyst was sitting upside down on the couch, her head hanging. She jumped up to her feet to sit on one of the stools by the mini bar. "The others are out, so it's just me and Lion!" She laughed while the pink cat hopped onto Peridot's head. She removed it from her head to hold it out in front of her. The cat hissed at her before pouncing out of Peridot's grip and hopping onto the kitchen table. 

"I hate that cat...." Peridot mumbled and fixed her hair, returning it to its regular style before the cat ruined it. "All it does is bite and hiss at me, just like Rocky." She patted her shirt formally and sat on the stool next to Amethyst.

"Animals must have a thing against you." Amethyst joked and poured herself a shot of tequila - chugged it down and made a cringed face. Peridot snorted and buried her head in her arms. "By the way, Steven already told us about the whole Jasper thing." The girl gestured her hands while holding the tequila bottle. She set it down on the counter before speaking again. "And where have you been?"

Peridot lifted her head and turned to Amethyst. "You know that cafe library in the campus?" Amethyst nodded, her eyes somewhere else. "I just found out Lapis works there. I ate some cake and had simple chitchat." Peridot gestured her hands and returned to put her head in her arms. Amethyst's eyes widened and looked at Peridot.

"I ship it." Amethyst giggled and took a swig of a bottle of water to get the taste of tequila out of her mouth. The blonde shot up from her seat and looked at Amethyst. 

"Are you crazy? How do you ship-" Perisot gestured her hands oddly, forming two fists and slamming them together softly. "-us?!"

The latina shrugged and spun her chair around. "You guys look cute together." This made the blonde blush furiously, she rubbed her temples. Amethyst stopped spinning when she noticed the girl's behavior. She crossed her arms and gave a devilish grin.

"Whats up with your face?" The blond was baffled.

"You know whats up." The girl leaned toward Peridot to put a finger against her sternum. Peridot was getting frightened instead of confused. The grin went away as it turned into a childish smile. "You wanna bang Lapis, dont'cha Peri?" Peridot's face was flustered as she pushed Amethyst off the stool. The girl fell and rolled on the floor laughing non-stop. "I knew it!! Peridot got a crush!" She jumped to her feet and did a little celebration. 

The blonde furrowed her eyebrows, scowling at the girl. "I do not. I will never like that-that..... person." Peridot's eyes went all over the place, until it met Amethyst's dark indigo staring deep into her soul. "Relax P, ain't nobody else gonna know you into that blue babe." She put her hands behind her head nonchalantly and paced the room.

"Dont call her "blue babe". That sounds weird." Peridot cringed at that nickname. Amethys gave another grin, her eyes were closed.

"You'll be calling her blue babe too, soon enough." Amethyst chuckled. The blonde narrowed her eyes and her mouth formed a straight line. Her blushing gave it away - she was way too into Lapis. She stood up from the stool and left, mumbling goodbye to the girl.

It was still cold, and it was still the middle of the day. She felt a leaf get caught in her frizzy hair, making her scramble around to take it out. "Stupid leaves." She finally managed to take the brown and crisp leaf out of her hair. The blonde stared blankly at the leaf and crumpled it up into leaf bits. That crinkling was extremley satisfying to her ears. Her walk down the sidewalk was filled with thoughts in her head of what Amethyst and her discussed. She put a slight scowl on her face.

Theres no doubt that Peridot has fallen for that blue babe. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY COWBALLS!
> 
> IM NOT EVEN DONE WRITING THIS FANFIC AND I ALREADY HAVE A STORY AND PLOT FOR ANOTHER ONE I PLAN ON WRITING.
> 
> SHOULD I WRITE ANOTHER FANFIC ? IDK.  
> ITS GUNNA HAVE FANTASY IN IT THO.
> 
> Also if you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments.


	6. A Date?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis and Peridot talk at the cafe, but the blonde is soon interfered by two horny lovebirds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit I have so much inspiration in my mind right now. Not.  
> -Kpala

"Nice practice, Jenny." Peridot brushed past the dark skinned girl and gave her a slap on the rear. 

A line of female players formed to walk into the locker rooms. All of them being covered in sweat; they were exhausted from today's practice. They did suicides and drills before playing a five on five practice. Coach Crystal was usually harsh on the girls whenever they practiced. But today, she had a little mercy in her cold heart to let them skip a jog around the campus.

Peridot went to her wooden locker room cubby to remove her basketball jersey and shorts. Their team color was gold and white, not black and blue as some people interpreted it.

"Alright girls, hit the showers and go home! Remember, we have a Boston drill footwork tomorrow!" The short woman yelled out to the ladies in the circular room.

For a coach, she was awfully small and puny. She was about the size of Amethyst, her being about 5'1. Coach Crystal wore a black visor over her round head with blonde hair in a ponytail. Her working clothes were just a t-shiry and sweatpants with Nikes. Classy.

"And uh...whats your name?" Her raspy voice sounded out to Peridot, who was in the middle of removing her shorts. The girl looked around the room and pointed to herself before asking,"Me?"

"Yes you! Im not looking at anyone else now am I?!" She yelled out quite sharply, making the blonde wince. She knew that her coach never really meant it to be in a mean way, but damn. The taller girl shook her head in response to Coach Crystal's sarcastic question.

"Well? Whats your name? I need to get to know the newbies around here y'know." Her accent sounded similar to Jasper; it could be possible she was from Boston as well. Peridot didn't know the lady well, with her starting practices about a couple days ago. At least she got to know the teammates a bit better.

"P-Peridot Diamond, Coach." She straightened her back to boost some of her confidence. It all went away when the girl realized she stuttered.

"Peridot Diamond..." Coach mumbled to herself slowly, examining the half naked girl from head to toe. This was making her EXTREMLEY uncomfortable. The short lady scratched her chin as she narrowed her eyes. "Ive heard that last name before...and you resemble the person quite accurately."

"Uhhhh...." That was all the Peridot croaked out before the Coach looked up at her. She put a hand on her hip and started to walk away.

"Oh well whatever. Go back to changing or yeah.." Coach Diamond turned around, her back facing the baffled blonde as she gestured her hand. 

Peridot let out a deep sigh of relief; she continued to undress before wrapping in a towel and heading in the showers. The water was cold and the drain was hairy. It was as if bigfoot took a shower right before she did. Eww..

Her hair was damp as she dried it up with a green towel. She wore a black oversized hoodie and denim jeans with Jordans to complete her outfit. She grabbed her green duffle bag that lay on one of the shower lockers at wrapped it across her shoulder. Picking up the Spalding ball she brought along, she turned around to see a certain someone in a towel.

Peridot blushed furiously as her sight was on a cobalt hair girl who was drying her hair. The locker door covered her body from her neck down; her head was only visible to Peridot. The blue haired girl was completely oblivious to her until the blonde dropped the ball. It bounced on the white tile floors, making a springy sound. Peridot scrambled across the floor to pick it up, but looked at Lapis to see her staring back at her.

"W-What're you doing here?!" Peridot jumped, almost slipping on a wet tile.

"What do you mean...." Lapis's eyes examined Peridot, who was confused and surprised at the same time.

"You-You're not even on the team! Why are you here?!" Peridot was utterly confused to why she was showering in the locker room showers.

"What're you talking about, i'm on the swim team. We share showers...duh!" Lapis turned away to continue dressing, but Peridot's mouth hang ajar.

She was never informed that the entire gym -it had a swimming, tennis, and basketball court - shared ONE shower room. No wonder the showers were always occupied.

"Hey Peridot! You left your sleeve in the locker-" Jenny busted the double doors open, a green padded armsleeve in her hand. The cloth had Peridot's initials on the bottom - written sloppily. Peridot was so glad Jenny would save the day.

Lapis was startled, and looked at Jenny with wide eyes. Peridot continued to stare at the half naked Lapis, who was now wearing a sweater, her panties were visible. Lapis did her best to not make eye contact with the blonde, as she slipped on some jeans. "Will you stop staring already?" The bluenette sharply said to Peridot, who snapped out of it and blused. "S-Sorry." The blonde snatched the padded armsleeve from the giggling Jenny and stuffed it into her duffle bag.

"Anyways......Peridot I'm hungry. Lets go get some food." Jenny whined as she shook the taller girl's shoulder. The blonde jerked away and brushed her shoulder, shooting her a look.

"Fine. Where do you wanna go?" Peridot felt like a mom treating her child.

"Hey Jenny, don't we start our shift soon? Lets go eat at the cafe." Lapis joined in; she was putting her swim cap and goggles in her bag. 

"Um...that is if you don't mind eating there Peri." Lapis mumbled under her breath. It was barely audible, but Peridot made it out and nodded in agreement. The taller girl gave a bright smile - remembering about the heaven on earth she tasted.

"I DEFINITELY want to eat that cake again." Peridot licked her lips and patted her stomach, receiving a nudge from Jenny. Her eyes darted to look at Lapis, who was blushing.

"L-Lets walk then." The shorter girl walked out of the double doors that lead to the exit of the gym. The other two followed along side by side.

"Class was SUPER boring today. Mrs. Sardonyx would not shut up from bragging about how "intelligent" she is." Lapis groaned, and looked at the two girls who nodded.

"It's just been a week since classes started and i've started dying inside already." Peridot sighed and scrolled through her phone. Jenny glanced over but the blonde pushed her face away.

"Ooohhhh...who're you texting?" Jenny poked in on her buisness, leaning on the girl as they walked. This drew Lapis's attention, taking a few glimpses now and then.

"Its just Jasper, she keeps sending me pictures of her holding food." Peridot smirked a bit, but it went away when she noticed Lapis frowned. She quickly shoved her phone in her hoodie pockets and changed the subject. Before she could open her lips, Lapis decided to speak.

"You haven't called me since I gave you my number." The shorter girl seemed upset, but not seriously. "Are you _that_ busy?"

If you count playing 2k16 and Overwatch nonstop for the past week then yes. Peridot couldn't bring herself to tell that, so instead she lied.

"No actually, I've been too busy um..with...homework." The blonde took long pauses, trying to think of what to say. Lapis looked at her a bit funny, but Peridot just smiled.

"Nice excuse." Lapis scoffed under her breath before turning her head to look at the old brick buildings. People walked past them on their way to the cafe; most of them looked alot older than the three. It was about 5 in the after noon, the sun was setting in the orange sky. The rest of the 5 minute walk was silent.

The automatic sliding doors opened, revealing the library Peridot visited about a week ago. She felt bad for not being able to contact Lapis, but she  _was_ busy with things other than video games. What she said about the homework was true anyways - with Mr. Rock giving her a shit ton of assignments. She wondered if informational technology was really worth it. It was.

The trio walked to the cafe and two went inside the kitchen, leaving Peridot sitting alone on a table. She looked around and noticed there weren't as many people as last time. Her attention was caught by a couple making out behind a bookshelf, looking alot like the ones she saw last time. She squinted her eyes, being able to to see that the boy was actually Steven. Oh cool.

Waait...STEVEN???!!Peridot's eyes narrowed at the girl he was making out with, no doubt it was Connie. She was recognisable with her long black hair and huge glasses. The blonde started blushing about this, turning her head the other way. Peridot placed her forehead on the metal table and sighed. She wanted to flip the table over and scream for some reason. 

_My little cinnamon bun....._

She was glad to see they finally left the library, giggling with hand in hand. It was hard to see him grow up, but it warmed up her heart. His innocence would soon go away. How sad.

"Here ya go." Lapis gently placed a plate with a green cake on it. Peridot was about to grab the fork that lay on the table, but the bluentte beat her two it. She waved her finger in the air and shook her head. "I get to feed you." She put a grin on her face, jabbing the a piece of cake on the fork.

"What why??!" Peridot was baffled, she looked around to see if this was a dream or some crazy shit. She even pinched herself, leaving a red mark on her arm. Oh shit. She looked over Lapis's shoulder to see Jenny watching in the corner. The bluenette neared the fork to the blonde's closed mouth.

"Lapis? What are you doing?" Peridot pushed the fork away slowly with her finger. Lapis jolted, and came to her realisation. The shorter girl searched Peridot's eyes.

"A-Im-Im sorry..." Lapis said in a distressed tone, dropping the fork on the plate. "Ah shit...this was a bad idea." Lapis scratched the back of her head; she sucked in air through her gritted teeth and looked away. Peridot was so confused right now.

"Sorry Peri...Jen suggested this." Her thumb pointed at the girl behind her, who was waving and smiling. Peridot gave her a scowl, as she rushed back into the kitchen. Her eyes met with Lapis's hurt ones.

"Its fine...really." Peridot fiddled around with the fork Lapis dropped. It was an akward silence; Peridot sat on the chair as Lapis stood beside her. There was this tension that went on for what seemed to be hours. They just stared at each other until Peridot opened her mouth to speak. "You don't have to do that to spend time with me." The blonde could see right through Lapis knowing she just wanted to start a conversation.

"You wouldn't mind if I wasted your time?" Lapis pulled out a chair and sat across from her, hands rested ontop of the other. Peridot shook her head and took a bite of the cake.

"Not at all." She said with a mouthful of the green goodness. "What do you wanna talk about?" 

They haven't made eye contact since Lapis sat down; Peridot looked down at the cake the entire time. The shorter girl took the cake from the blonde, receiving a growl in return. "What?"

"I noticed something about you." Lapis started, her eyes were somewhere else.

"And what did you notice?" She tilted her head in confusion, still chewing the cake in her mouth before swallowing it.

"Ever since you arrived, you haven't spoken to  _anyone_ about your trip. You always avoided it whenever someone brings it up." Lapis jabbed the fork in the cake, letting the utensil stay upwards. "What's up with that?"

"Sorry but...I can only tell people I trust about that kinda stuff. You know, Jasper and some uh...others." Peridot said in a deeper voice. The other girl didn't find that reasonable.

"So...you don't trust anyone but Jasper?"

"I said others." Peridot rose a finger.

"And who are these... _others_." Lapis leaned in, intruiged by Peridot's excuses.

"People you don't and won't need to know about." The blonde bit her lip and played with stray hair on her temples.

Lapis scoffed and smiled. "Is it  _really_ that serious? I bet you just got lost in the city." She looked over to Peridot, who wasn't smiling at all. Instead, she narrowed her eyes at the bluenette.

"Yes...it was serious. And no..I brought a GPS while I was over there." Peridot tried to joke, but ended up saying it unsmiling. "How about we change the topic here."

"Hmm..." Lapis thought about a good subject to bring up. Her eyes widened when she thought of the perfect start of a conversation. "Do you think i'm attractve in any way?" Lapis asked nonchalantly, as the basketball athlete grew red. She wanted to tease the girl, she found it fun last time.

"What kind of question is that!!??" Peridot crossed her arms and looked over Lapis's shoulder to see Jenny giggling behind the counter. She rolled her eyes and looked back at Lapis. The bluenette had her chin resting on her palm; her elbow rested on the table.

"Its a simple yes or no question, Peri." Lapis grew impatient, tapping her foot and fingernails.

_This is stupid. Might as well get it over with._

"Yes." Peridot mumbled and slouched in the chair. She watched the swimmer turn bright red, turning her head away.

"Thank you for being honest." Her voice was calm. "What _do_ you find attractive about me?" Lapis added another question, one that the blonde did not want to answer. Mainly because she found so many things attractive about Lapis in a non-platonic way. Fuck. 

Peridot was letting out 'uhm' and 'ah' escape her mouth. She pursed her lips when she saw Lapis looking at her as if she were crazy. 

"I already answered the first question. I don't need to tell you." Peridot said with a smug look, thinking she dodged the question successfully. 

"Fair enough." Lapis shrugged and pushed the plate of cake back to Peridot. 

"My turn." The blonde grinned and took another bite of the cake. "Sapphire said she's known you since freshman year back in highschool. How come she never mentioned you to me?"

Lapis shrugged and put a straight face. "She's not the type that talks about people she meets." Peridot knew that this was true already. Sapphire was a year above her when she met her in senior year. They would just bring up small talk and move on in their day. There were somewhere in the middle of close friends and friends. 

"LAPIS!! I SPILLED BATTER ON THE FLOOR!" Jenny screamed in the kitchen; Lapis rolled her eyes and stood up. "Ill be right back." She said in a whisper. Peridot nodded and finished the cake. She watched the shorter girl's hips sway slightly as she walked back to the kitchen. Peridot started coughing, she was choking on the cake. The blonde let out a deep exhale after swallowing the cake and turninh her head to look at the bookshelves. Steven and Connie were walking over there again;Peridot stood up to walk over to them.

"Ahem."Peridot stood behind the giggling couple as they turned around in surprise. They looked at eachother and Peridot rose an eyebrow. "I hope you two won't be causing any trouble while you're here." She gestured her hands in a waving motion. Steven grew bright red and looked away, while Connie was holding something in her other hand behind her back.

"Peridot, we need to ask you a favor." Connie turned to Steven, who nodded in agreement before looking at the blonde again. "Steven and I are going to have sexual intercourse." Connie said with confidence, puffing her chest up to the blonde. Peridot was open-mouthed, her eyes widen at the two. She took glances between them, back and forth before inhaling through her nose. She clapped her hands together and pointed it to them.

"Are you fucking serious?" She was so close to going outside and yelling her lungs out. Connie frowned and Steven tugged her shirt. The man looked at Peridot with sad puppy eyes. Peridot rolled her eyes to the very back of her head. She darted her eyes back to the table where Lapis and her sat. "What can I do?"

"You can make sure that nobody sees us. Especially Lapis. I'm supposed to take over her shift right now, but were gonna be busy." Connie blushed as Steven wrapped his arm around her waist and gave a grin. Peridot wanted to puke so badly. All that would probably come out would be that cake she ate.

The blonde looked around the library, noticing it was almost deserted. There was only Ronaldo who was watching some anime on the computers while singing to the opening intro. Peridot cringed at this before turning back to Connie. "You have protection, right?" Peridot felt as if someone punched her in the gut when she said that. 

The dark girl pulled her arm from behind her back, revealing a Trojan condom.She ripped it open and examined it. Steven watched her, his face boiling red as he moved his curly hair out of his eyes. "Y-Yeah." His voice broke.

"Fine...just-don't do anything freaky." Peridot shivered and started to walk back to the table. She turned around once more to whisper to them. "And don't make any loud noises; you need to remember this is a library. The couple nodded and disappeared behind the shelves. The blonde sat down on the metal chair and sighed. Her eyes glanced to where the bookshelf they were behind; she could hear giggling and faint whispers. Peridot couldn't believe she was helping them cover up the fact they were fucking.

"Sorry about that, Jenny slipped on a wet puddle and spilled batter ALL over her." The bluenette walked out of the kitchen laughing, wiping her batter covered hands. Peridot wouldn't stop looking to her side to check on the two. She was panicking.

"I-Its fine." The blonde squirmed in her seat. Lapis pulled out the chair across from her to sit; Peridot felt a heavyness lift up from her chest when the girl shot her a smile. 

"Jenny had to go home to change, so I guess i'm in charge." Lapis sighed, tapping the table with her painted nails. "Plus Buck is sick with a flu, so he is taking the week off." The taller girl simply nodded, she twiddledher thumbs nervously.

"S-So...." Peridot tried to think of a conversation to get her mind off of things. "How're you feeling about Jasper at this point. She called me and said she's coming back next week."

Lapis shrugged and her eyes wondered somewhere to Peridot's side. "I guess we can just...talk like friends." 

Peridot tightened her fists under the table and looked at the bluenette. She smiled when she looked back at Peridot. "Its fine though, no need to worry about my overthinking self."

"Anyways...how long have you been-" The bluennete's sentence was cut off by a creaking noise. Her head quickly turned to the bookshelf that Steven and Connie were behind; unaware that they were fucking. Peridot felt her heart race when the shorter girl narrowed her eyes at the continious creaking noise.

_"Oh Steven!"_

A moan called out in the direction Lapis was facing. The girl grew suspicious, but Peridot cleared her throat. "I-I said...Steven is pretty cool, huh?" She hoped that was enough for Lapis to be convinced it was her. She felt a sweat bead run down the back of her neck. Shit was getting real.

"Yeah...he helped me get through some tough shit a couple years back." The bluenette's attention went back to the blonde as she gave her a weak smile. "He is probably one of the most nice and innocent people I ever met." Lapis said dreamily. 

_Not anymore._

"Y-yeah...he cheered me on at every game back in highschool." Peridot related. "Even if we lost by a ton, he would celebrate it like crazy." The blonde felt a smile tug on her lips, she couldn't help it. Lapis blushed at her action, the smile being contagious. It was silent for a few seconds; the only sound was the bookshelf creaking nonstop.

"Hey so..do you wanna go somewhere tomorrow?" Lapis started, she was more confident. "I heard theres this new bad-ass movie at the theatres downtown." Lapis put a grin on her face, remembering the trailer she watched.

"Sure, what time can I pick you up?" Peridot turned her phone on, checking if she has any practice she forgot to schedule. Deep down, she was super excited. The blonde did her best to act natural.

"Actually, I thought we could walk there - that is if you have time. And we could leave at about 5 pm." The swimmer had a different thought of getting there. 

_"Faster! Faster!"_

Perisot gulped when she heard a voice behind her. Lapis looked over her shoulder with her eyebrows furrowed. "What was tha-"

"I said that...I uhmmm..have practice so..we can take my car to get there faster." The blonde was super amazing at creating diversions. She was holding her breath, she felt her heart was about to explode when Lapis looked at her. "I can pick you up around 7." She tucked her phone in her pocket, sighing in relief. Lapis smiled and her and nodded.

"That sounds good to me. I can't wait to see DogCopter the Renegade." Lapis squirmed in excitement before getting a call on her phone. "Excuse me for a a sec." She stood up and answered the call, walking into the kitchen.

It really did feel like Peridot was dreaming. Everything was going great, except for the love birds behind them. She turned her head to check up on them, but her face turned pale. The bookshelf was falling down from all the movements.

_Oh shitballs._

She jolted out of her seat to run over to the bookshelf. It was leaning at a very dangerous angle, about to crush Steven and Connie. She placed her hands on the wood and pushed it upwards, ignoring the moaning right next to her.  _FUUUUUUCCCCKKK._

The girl nearly popped a vein by pushing the bookshelf to it's original postion. She looked down to see a naked Steven and Connie all over eachother. The blonde covered her eyes to walk back, her breathing heavy from the strain she had on her body. Peridot bumped into a figure - she removed her hands that covered her eyes to see Lapis. "Whats going on over there?" Lapis peeked over Peridot's shoulder, but the blonde blocked her view with her hair. She continued to do that whenver Lapis tried to look at the naked couple behind the tall bookshelf. "Peridot! Quit doing that!" Her voice was irritated as she pushed the blonde out of the way.

Lapis walked over to the bookshelf; Steven and Lapis were putting their pants up hastily. 

_Shit shit shit shit ssshhiit._

Peridot panicked as Lapis neared them, oblivious of whats behind the bookshelf. The blonde wrapped her arms around the girl's waist tightly to stall time.

"P-Peridot!? What are you doing?!" Lapis was startled by the girls hands around her navel. She could feel the blonde's chest touching her back, and her breathing tingled her neck.

"I-Its called a hug?" Peridot said nervously, she looked over at the couple and mouthed 'hurry up' to them. They both giggled and ran the opposite direction. Lapis was squirming in Peridot's strong hold around her waist.

"Why is this so sudden?!" Lapis squealed as Peridot quickly released the girl. The blonde looked at the enterance to make sure the two already left. She let out a deep sigh before running a hand through her hair and glancing at Lapis. The blunette was blushing, her ocean blue eyes staring right at her.

"What?" Peridot didn't know why Lapis was staring at her like that. 

"What??!! You just hugged me out of nowhere?" Lapis had a scowl on her face, still blushing. "Y-You can't do that!"

" _Whyy.._ did you like it or something?" The taller girl teased the swimmer, putting a shit-eating grin on her face. Lapis looked away and walked toward the bookshelf to look around it's corners. The bluenette could've sworn she saw something move when Peridot hugged her. Wait.

 _Peridot_ hugged her.

The shorter girl started feeling giddy inside; she felt her face get hotter. 

"Anyways..I should go back home. I gotta get some rest for tomorrow for practice."  Peridot walked back to the cafe area to pick up her duffle bag. "See you tomorrow." She said, an akward smile on her lips.

"Don't be late for our date." Lapis reminded, taking the finished plate from the table they sat at. Peridot's face grew bright red...her heart raced after hearing the word "date". Is this what Lapis wanted to call it? A date?

"Alright, I'll pick you up at your dorm at 7, remember." Peridot started walking backwards to the automatic door. Lapis gave a thumbs up, watching Peridot leave.

_Did I just call it a date? She's okay with going on a date with me? What am I getting myself into?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im sorry not sorry for this chapter.
> 
> Im wondering if the story should be part in a series....  
> Btw have you heard "Its Over Isn't It" from Mr.Greg. Holy shit I cried when I heard that song.  
> -Kpala


	7. The Return Of Buff Mama

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jasper returns earlier than expected surprising Lapis and the rest. Peridot is told that a birthday bash is being held for her, and doesn't like the idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaaaayyyy another chapter done!  
> Do any of you watch Jacksepticeye? All the way!! All the way!! To victory!! I believe! I believe in Steve ! 
> 
> If you watch his recent videos, you get what Im talking about ;)  
> -Kpala
> 
> P.s School starts in a week and that suuuuccks!! Hopefully I won't be busy during school to finish this off. I can't promise you guys that.

"Boooo! That movie sucked asscheeks!" Lapis groaned out to the crowds of people in line. Peridot chuckled nervously as they stared at the childish bluenette. "I swear, the trailer was so much better than that crap." She mumbled under her breath. Peridot was able to catch what she said and laughed.

"It wasn't that bad. Besides, the ending was pretty decent." The blonde smirked and took a sip of the cup of soda they refilled after the movie. Lapis looked at her surprised. "What're you talking about!? The ending was the worst!?"

Peridot shrugged and took the keys for her car out of her pockets and spun them. "Dogcopter almost died while shooting the security guards at that strip club." The taller girl imitated shooting an assault rifle. Lapis frowned and sat in the passenger seat. "You're such a dork." She mumbled as Peridot turned the engine on.

"Oh yeah? Does a dork bring you out to the movie theatre to watch some cliche film?" Peridot stuck her tounge out and felt a vibration in her pocket. Lapis looked over as she took her phone out a read a text message.

**MiTorta: We're gonna have a big ass party for you on your birthday!**

**Clod: No, I hate celebrating my birthday, let alone parties.**

**MiTorta: Oh come on..you're turning 20, right? That means you can drink legally at the party!**

**Clod: Its 21, dumbass.**

**MiTorta: Yeah whatever, you got drunk before. Anyways the party is at 9 pm on Friday. Jasper's gonna be there right?**

**Clod: I guess. She said her flight leaves on Thursday morning.**

**MiTorta: Great Great. All l need to do is hire some strippers. How does Lapis sound to you? ;)**

Lapis giggled at her text, reading over Peridot's shoulder. The blonde blushed with a scowl on her face. "Stupid Amethyst." She growled, tapping her thumbs on the screen.

**Clod: Stfu Don't push it. I already agreed to going to the party, so don't make me change my mind.**

**MiTorta: Fine. But I already know you would come even if I "push it."**

**Clod:K whatever**

Peridot put her phone away and turned her head to look at the grinning Lapis. "What?" The blonde shifted the gear in drive to leave the parking lot.

"I'm coming to that "birthday bash"of yours." The bluenette watched Peridot dart her eyes on the road. "Would you mind picking me up?"

"Ummmm..." Peridot straightened her back and gripped the steering wheel. Her eyes wouldn't meet Lapis. "We'll see...."

"What do you mean?"

"Well....Jasper might be riding with me and-" She turned to the swimmer. "-I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or anything." They slowed down at the yellow light. "But thats up to you."

Peridot heard the girl mumble something deeply. She didn't understand and tilted her head. "What?"

The shorter girl let out a sigh and repeated herself. "I said I don't care if Jasper drives with us. I can sit in silence just perfectly." Her tone was irritated, making Peridot feel bad.

"Okay." The blonde said firmly, stepping gently on the gas pedal when the light turned green. The rest of the ride was in silence, the radio was still broken. She really needed to repair that soon. They pulled up on the sidewalk across the dorms. Lapis however, was staring into space.

"Lazuli? Lazuli??" Peridot snapped her fingers in front of the expressionless girl, making her head jolt up. "S-Sorry, did I startle you?" Peridot pulled her hand quickly to her chest. The other girl shook her head and gave a small smile. "Thanks for the ride, Peri."

Peridot liked the way Lapis said the nickname Amethyst gave her back in highschool. Lapis opened the car door and stepped out before turning around again. "You can also stop calling me Lazuli since we're friends. Only my doctor calls me that." The girl chuckled as she watched Peridot blush.

"Lapis...." Peridot tested out the name; the words smoothly rolled down in tounge. The blonde was satisfied with the name exchanges as she looked up at the flushed red girl. "Y-yeah." Lapis simply mumbled and gave a thumbs up. "Lapis..." Peridot said again, drawing the bluenette's attention. "What?"

Peridot shook her head and leaned back in her seat. "Nothing. I just like saying your name." The blonde felt hot when she said that, she probably was just embarrassing herself. She looked up to see Lapis biting her lip and looking away.

"Well....I like your name too, Perisnot." Lapis grinned before closing the car door and walking back to the dorm building. She looked back at the girl in the car and gave a big wave. The blonde snorted and drove the opposite direction to her apartment.

"Jasper I'm ho-" Peridot tossed the soda cup into the trash can and chuckled. "I forgot." She mumbled to herself before running to her room upstairs. She didn't care if she made noise, nobody would yell at her since Jasper wasn't here. Well....maybe the landlord.

The blonde brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas. Not to sleep though. She took out her laptop from her bag and entered the password. "Looks like I got a new one." She clicked on an email sent to her from the company she worked for. 

Peridot worked online for a company called Diamond's Technology. This company was her mother's, being offered a well paying job a year ago; she accepted it. The company did what the name was. They made all kinds of softwares, devices, data storage and bases. Peridot was the one who had to do all the beta testing before a product or demo was to be released. It was simple, as she had to do was make sure there were no bugs or viruses lurking in them. This was a reason the girl took IT; it was to rank up in her mother's company. As much as she hated her, she wanted that job. This company was probably the only thing her mother owned that wasn't stolen from.

"And done." Peridot pressed the send button to return her review on the data base to DiamondTec. She looked up at the clock to see it was already midnight; she worked for about 2 hours. That tested product should give her about a couple thousand dollars. She strectched and stood up from her bed to put the laptop on her desk. Her phone vibrated on her bed.

**BuffMama: Hey Peri!**

**Clod: What do you want? Its midnight over here.**

**BuffMama: I heard from Ame that the squad is throwing you a birthday bash on Friday.**

**Clod: And?**

**BuffMama: Im on my flight back home right now :D**

**Clod : You're joking. Are you really?!**

The blonde recieved an image from another text. It was a picture on some old guy sleeping next to her on an airplane seat. The girl sat on the bed and texted back.

 

**Clod: You could have just sent me a pic of the window.**

**BuffMama: This guy is a better view.**

Peridot snorted before shaking her head in amuesment.

**Clod: Time for me to hit the hay. What time is it for you over there?**

**BuffMama: Like 2 in the afternoon. G'night. Don't let the snakes bite.**

**Clod: Good afternoon. And fuck you.**

Peridot tucked herself in bed all excited. She couldn't wait for Jasper to come back! She could tell her about how she saw Steven and Connie bang. Or how she saw Jenny again. Or how she liked Lapis and how she was going to betray her best friend. Yaaayy.

Peridot felt like she was going to die inside just thinking about it. Although Peridot knew Lapis and her weren't dating or anything, things were just  _weird._ How akward would it be to be dating your bestfriends ex? Its like kissing the lips of Jasper. Perisot thought about kissing Lapis's soft and shiny lips. She snapped out of her little daydream and turned in her bed to face the wall.  _It'll be fiiiiinnnee._ Before she knew it, she dozed off.

"Peridot...." A voice whispered beside her. She didn't want to open her eyes, but she did anyways. Her eyelids were heavy and tired as she closed them again. "Peridot! There's a snake!" The voice yelled out. The blonde jumped out of her bed and started panicking. She looked around the room to see a short and dark figure standing by her nightstand. She could hear a familiar voice laugh hysterically.

Peridot squinted her eyes and turned the the lamp that sat on the nightstand  "Heeeeyyy!!" Amethyst did jazzhands and wiggled her eyebrows. Peridot was still sleepy, and very very confused. She grabbed her glasses and put them on;she looked at the clock to see it was 1:39 in the morning. Peridot rubbed her eyes and gave the shorter girl a scowl. "What are you doing here? And how did you even get in??" She growled, her voice raspy.

The latina put on a grin and spoke. "Through the window." She pointed at the window across from the bed; it was wide open and the curtains were swaying by the wind. "And i'm here cause Pearl's mad at me again." She sat across from Peridot on the floor indian style. The blonde narrowed her eyes. "And?"

"And I'm going to crash here for the nightt! The girl threw her hands in the air in celebration and waved them around. "Sleeeeepover!!" Peridot quickly covered the loud one's mouth with her hand. Amethyst muffled and licked her hand, the blonde retracted it and wiped it on her sheets. "You're disgusting." 

Amethyst took a blanket and pillow from the closet and laid it on the floor. She fell on the floor back first and let out a sigh of satisfisfaction. "Ahhh...just like old times." She pulled a blanket over herself as Peridot watched. 

"Why don't you just sleep in the temple?" Peridot turned the light off and snuggled with her alien plush. "Like you always do."

"Ehhh...I guess this would bring up the opportunity for me to talk to you about the party." 

Periot rolled over to face the door to be able to hear the girl better. "You already know I hate those. I don't know why you would waste your time doing that." She said bitterly. Amethyst let out a groan and threw a pillow at her face.

"You  _really_ aren't appreciative, are you? Tch. This party is something  _we_ planned." Amethyst sounded irritated and slightly mad. "We even told Jasper to come home early to help set it up."

Peridot tightened her jaw and pulled the blankets up to her chin. It was ambient as the wind whooshed through the open widow. "Are you gonna attend or not?" Amethyst gestured her hands high enough in the air for Peridot to see below her bed. "You can even invite your girlfriend."

The blonde threw a pillow at the girl below her and put an upset frown. "I already told you we're not dating." She gathered her blankets to shift her position to face the wall. It had been a few moments of silence before Peridot spoke again. "And yes.....I do plan on attending this "birhday bash" you have set up for me." 

"Atta girl!" Amethyst sat up and patted her on the back roughly before laying down again. She let out a deep sigh and yawned. "Good night, don't let the snakes bite.

Peridot growled and turned her head in the girl's direction. "Don't sneak through my window next time. Thats really creepy." Amethyst snorted and let out a "pssh".

"If I knocked on your door, you wouldn't have let me in." The shorter kicked the side of Peridot's bed. The blonde rolled her eyes and hugged the plushie tighter. Her eyes would close but snap open again, before closing finally for a peaceful slumber. Well..it would be peaceful if it weren't for loud ass snoring. 

* * *

 Amethyst literally gulped down the pancakes that Peridot freshly cooked in one bite. She watched in disgust as the shorter one let out a huge belch. "You make the BEST pancakes, Peri I swear." She rubbed her full belly in satisfaction as the blonde chewed on her own meal.  _Eh...it doesn't taste as good if your the one making it. "_ Whats the secret to this?" Amethyst leaned forward in her chair. Peridot shook her head and spun the fork in her slender fingers. "Its a secret, duh."

Amethyst pouted and leaned back to spread herself on the chair. Peridot brought the dishes to the sink to wash them and hummed her ringtone. She jumped when she heard the doorbell ring excessively. "That must be Pearl here to pick me up." The shorter one stood up and groaned, walking over to the door and opening it. "P-Peri!!!" Amethyst jumped around and pulled the blonde to the door. She dropped the plates in the sink, making a clatter.

"What??" Amethyst continued to pull the confused girl as she pointed outside. Her eyes widened when she saw a Jasper walking out of a yellow cab, bringing out her luggages. The two girls jumped around excitedly as a smiling Jasper approached them. The bigger woman placed the bags next to the enterance to give the Amethyst a "cool handshake" before turning to Peridot. She stuck her arms out wide to give a hug, and Peridot gladly accepted it. She was getting strangled in the process.

"Nice to see that you haven't grown at all!" It was weird hearing her voice again, even if she was only gone for a couple weeks. The bigger woman stepped in the house, closing the door behind her and streching her arms. 

"So...did anything exciting happen in Boston? Did you go anywhere fun? How are strip clubs over there? Are girls sexier there? Is there-" Peridot quickly covered Amethyst's mouth, giving her a look. Again, she licked it and she wiped the saliva on her shirt. "Sorry for my babbling." She apoligized.

"I get it, you're just curious." Jasper huffed as she lifted the bags to place them on the couch as she sat right next to them. She let her body take up the whole seat, leaving the two girls sitting on the carpet floor in front of her. "It wasn't  _that_ exciting." She stretched her legs out and scratched her head. "All I did was see my ma and pops and go out with them for dinner a couple times."

The girls nodded and Peridot opened her mouth to speak. "How's Barbara and Rick? Last time I saw them was like, what, 2 or three years ago."

"Their doing fine. They haven't really changed at all. Not even Doggo!" Jasper chuckled and kicked her feet up on the coffee table. Peridot smiled and remembered the big and scary German Shepherd that bit her when she was younger.

The blonde looked elsewhere, trying to remember Jasper's parents. The couple were very lovely, and treated her like their own daughter. Jasper was never against that and treated her like a sister. She remembered when she was in middle school, her parents would go on buisness trips all over the country. If they weren't traveling, they would be at some fancy party. That left Peridot staying at the Walsh residence while they were gone. She still remembered the day they took her to Disneyland once, of course getting lost during the trip. She smirked.

They were like.... _actual_ parents. Ones that cared. Peridot always envied Jasper for having a complete and functional family. The only good thing Peridot got out of being left alone all the time was being independent. From a very young age, she enrolled herself in a Robot Competition. This was still when her mother and father actually cared for their daughter's creations. They would praise, hug, cuddle, kiss, and care for her. They would love her. Its not like that now.

"And thats when I found out the dog belonged to the old man across the street." Jasper was finishing off some story Peridot wasn't listening to. She had just snapped out of herself to look at the dark girl in front of her. She gave an akward smile as Jasper smiled back to tell another story.

After hours of catching up, Amethyst decided to leave to go back to Pearl. She said that "She must be so upset, she must've forgotten about me."

Peridot looked over to Jasper from the couch, watching the woman happily eating pancakes. Jasper waved the fork around and spoke with her mouth full. "What did you do while I was gone?" Peridot gulped and turned her head to look back at the TV. 

_WHAT DO I TELL HER?? THE WHOLE REASON SHE LEFT WAS BECAUSE OF LAPIS. DO I TELL HER "HEY, I WENT ON A DATE WITH YOUR EX WHILE I WAS GONE, NOW I LIKE HER ALOT." WHY AM I SO FOOLISH? CLOD CLOD CLOD CLOD CLOD!_

"Uhhmm..hello? Am I talking to a ghost?" Jasper joked and Peridot felt her heart about to explode out of her puny self. "Did you something stupid?"

"Whaaaaaat? Noooo...." Peridot's voice was trembling with nervousness. She turned around to face the heft woman. "Its just school, and work, and basketball, and La-" Peridot pursed her mouth after she realized she was about to say the girl's name. Jasper grew suspicious in the blonde's list of things she said she did.

"What?" Jasper licked off the syrup dripping off the fork and let it clatter on the plate. She dropped it off in the sink before slouching on the couch next to the troubled blonde. Oh shit Oh shit.

"Lack of sleep...yeah, lack of sleep!" Peridot stood up abruptly, ready to leave the room before Jasper would grow even more suspicious. She walked stiffly away from the couch before hearing a deep voice. "Hey."

"W-What?" Peridot shakily asked, her palms were sweating. Jasper's facial expression looked soft and worried. This made Peridot relax a little, knowing she wasn't going to get beat up or anything. "Did uhm-did Lapis say anything...about me while I was gone?" Jasper's eyes looked at the carpet, as her fingers tapped on the couch. The blonde truly felt bad. Really bad. She let out a deep sigh and leaned against the wall.

"Yes." She wanted to be truthful for once - not wanting to hurt the bigger girl than she already was. "She had a talk to me a couple times and she would bring you up." Peridot scratched her neck and looked at Jasper. She was smiling? She wore a weak smile, but her eyes looked hurt.

"Thanks for talking to her. Hopefully, you were there to make her feel better." Jasper got up and cracked her neck. "Its......my fault." She gently lifted the bags from the couch and walked up the stairs sulking. Peridot watched in heartache as Jasper disappeared. "Oh boy..." she ran her fingers through her hair and grit her teeth. 

"Jasper get your ass down here, now!!" Peridot cupped her hands in front of her mouth to increase her volume. She waited a couple seconds before hearing loud footsteps run down the stairs. "Yes?" Jasper peeked around the corner and had a happy expression. The blonde sat on the couch and let out a sigh. She patted the seat right next to her, insisting for Jasper to sit. Before she could remove her hand, the bigger girl already sat down, crushing her fingers under her butt. "Whoops." She stood back up as Peridot slowly brought her hand back up to her chest and sucked air through her teeth in pain.

"Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that Lapis told me the main reason she broke up with you was because she was too busy with studies and shit." Peridot felt like a dirty liar telling this to Jasper. Though it was true, it wasn't the main reason. The girl across from her lit up.

"Thanks, she told me that before I left and- I didn't know if she was lying or not. Thanks for being such a good friend Peri." Jasper ruffled the blonde hair and relaxed a bit. It was quiet for a few seconds before Jasper cleared her throat. "She hasn't started seeing anyone, has she?"

_Alert Alert Peridot brain malfunction_

Peridot stared at the woman sitting across from her and shook her head slowly. Jasper let out a sigh of relief and combed her fingers through her long white hair. "Good. If she thinks she has any right to break up with me and partner up with someone else, i'd say she was just in it for sex. I mean, she _did_ say she broke up for me for studies, right? Why would she go out with someone else, right?" Jasper grunted out. Peridot just stood there, she could feel her eyebrow twitching. She rubbed it to relax the muscles and sighed.

"Y-Yeah, y-you're right. She wouldn't date someone else if they would just distract her." Peridot bit her lip, and let every dream of getting together with Lapis fade away. She looked up at Jasper to speak, but the girl was passed out. Her chest heaved up and down as loud snores escaped her nose. Peridot smacked herself in the forhead and pinched the bridge of her nose.

_Stupid Stupid Stupid. Oh lord what have I done._

* * *

 

"Thats all the time we have today." Professor Morganite lifted his wrist to glance at his Gucci watch. Chatting and clatter filled the room and swarms of students left the classroom. Lapis in particular, walked alongside Sapphire and Pearl and out to the hallway. It was wide and went all the way to the other end of the building.

"Anyways, are you two going to attend Peridot's party?" Pearl clapped her hands together and gave a nice smile. Sapphire nodded. "Ruby will pick me up." The two girls looked over at Lapis, still waiting for her response.

 _"_ I need a ride." She mumbled and grapped the straps of her backpack to tighten it. Pearl and Sapphire looked at each other for a moment a before the ginger broke into a giggle.

"You know, theres nothing wrong with asking. You have friends, including us, you could ride with." The trio reached the end of the hallway and walked down wide stairs. Thank god most of them left already, or else there would be crowds of students running down. Lapis sighed and held the railing.

_I really don't want to third wheel with Ruby and Sapph. Same goes for Connie and Steven. Garnet and Pearl are....eh. Amethyst is cool, but she rides a motorcycle for one person. Peridot.....well...Jasper too. Maybe not if she takes her motorcycle._

Lapis nodded to Pearl's statement as she walked down the stairs and opened her Algebra class door. Her eyes scanned the classroom full of students seated, as she looked for an open seat among the rows. Her attention landed on an empty seat right next to a white haired girl, who was waving an arm in the air. Amethyst mouthed 'over here!' to the three girls. Pearl rolled her eyes and walked up the steps to sit in the back. Amethyst looked hurt, her arm returned to her lap. Sapphire followed Pearl, mouthing 'I'll see if she's okay.' to the latina. Amethyst gave a thumbs up to the girl, as Lapis walked over to sit right next to her.

"Did you two have a fight again?" Lapis smirked as she tossed her backpack under the desk and took a seat on the cold chair. Amethyst sighed and let her chin rest on her palm and nodded. "She's just so uptight sometimes, yknow?"

Lapis grew intruiged and looked over at the girl. "What happened exactly?" Amethyst let out another sigh before chuckling. She put her hands behind her head and leaned on the chair, making it balance on two legs.

"I asked her if she wanted some quick sex in the bathroom last night at the theatres downtown. It wasn't my fault we were watching a kinky movie." Amethyst grinned, but Lapis gulped. The movie theatre downtown? The one where Peridot and her went to last night? _Ah shit..I forgot they were showing "Sex and Roses" there._ Lapis shivered at the thought of Amethyst and Pearl having sex on the toilets. 

She then remebered the time she spent with Peridot while watching that stupid movie. She recalled the blonde accidently dropping popcorn on the guy below her. And when she started getting excited when Dogcopter was shooting gangsters in the bar. Then the bluenette remembered Peridot staring at her for a while. But...they didn't kiss. Instead, Lapis chickened out and ran to refill their cups. Stupid Stupid.

"I had to stay the night at Peridot's. But it was worth it since I got to see Jasper come home." The shorter girl picked her nose and flicked it somewhere. Lapis's eyes widened and her brain exploded. Jasper wasn't supposed to come home until Thursday! She wasn't emotionally ready for this. "Hehehe, your face." Amethyst chuckled as she pointed at the bluenette's blank face.

"I-Its fine. W-We're cool now, no worries." Lapis mumbled to herself and rubbed her cheeks together. This meant Jasper would be in a couple of her classes now. It was fine. Fine. Fine. Fine. Its all good. Its allllll good. That is until, she saw a tall dark woman enter the door in the corner of her eye, alongside Peridot who was on her phone.

Lapis let out a deep breath and turned her head to Jasper, who was looking right back at her with hazel eyes. "Hello Jasper. Good to see you again." Lapis's voice cracked, hoping she wouldn't notice. She pursed her lips and looked over at Peridot - who was trying to be supportive - as she held a thumbs up. Jasper grunted in response with distressed eyes before sitting in the back with Pearl. She could hear them chattering, as they greeted hello's to her ex. Her ex.

"Good to see a start of something." Peridot sighed as she sat in the front row on the right side of Lapis. Amethyst, who was on the left, laughed. "Good to see a start of akwardness!" She snorted as the blonde shot her a look, making her hush up. Peridot cleared her throat and looked up at the clock to see it was a couple minutes until class started.

"I can give you a ride." Peridot mumbled as she took out her notebooks from her green backpack without looking at the bluenette. "Jasper's riding Harvey."

Lapis snorted and took her notes out as well. "She named her motorcycle?" The blonde nodded and cracked her knuckles, making the blunette cringe a little. "I remember she named her bike Harvey as well back in middle school." Peridot grinned before being interrupted by Amethyst.

"Don't forget when you named your homemade robot back in highschool." Amethyst said with a childish tone.

Peridot hissed at the girl. "Dont you dare....!"

Lapis was amused by the two girls arguing right in front of her. She did sit in between them, after all. 

Amethyst chuckled a bit before opening her mouth to speak. This made Peridot furious. "Yolanda...." Amethyst whispered before sticking a tounge out at the blonde. Peridot stared her for a while before gritting her teeth and throwing a notebook at the laughing girl. "DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!!"

"Ohohohoho! Its on!" Amethyst threw her Sharpie marker at her, hitting her right in the nose. The school supplies flew back and forth between the two, as Lapis covered her face to protect herself from flying pens and markers. Then, it stopped. Lapis was wondering if they got caught or something. She removed her hands from her face to see a woman standing in front of her. A tall, pale, skinny Professor. Professor Opal.

She looked angrily at the two girls that had been having a play war right in front of her. She crossed her arms before turning around and walking to her desk like nothing happened. Lapis could hear mumbling and angry whispers to her right, and giggling and snorting on her left. 

Professor Opal turned around again to face the class and scan the room. She looked at the three girls a bit longer. She cleared her throat and grabbed a marker off from her desk. "Lets begin."

* * *

 

"Jab step! Jenny! Fix your heel!" Coach Crystal blew her whistle to tell her to stop. Jenny groaned and she dropped the ball from her hands. Coach walked up to the dark skinned girl and picked the ball up. "Like this!!!" She did a correct jabsteps multiple times in front of Jenny as she watched. "Yes coach." She mumbled as she took the ball from her hands and copied the action. The blonde lady gave a thumbs up and blew the whistle. Jenny rolled her eyes when her back was turned, and Peridot laughed at her rudeness.

"Alright. Lets freshen up, ladies." Coach C yelled out to the rest of the girls on the other side of the court, shooting baskets. Jenny walked up to Peridot and groaned. "Was she blind? Did she not see I was doing exactly what she told me?" She whispered to the blonde as they walked into the locker room. They went to their cubbys to retrive their clothes to shower.

Peridot pulled her hoodie over her head and dried her damp and lifeless hair. She hated it when it would be flat and wet. The blonde tried to make the top part stand, but it flopped back down to cover her forehead. "Hey, Amethyst said you guys are having a party at the temple for your b-day. Expect to see me there." Jenny put hung her jersey on the hook in her cubby which was next to Peridot's. The blonde gave a simple nod before leaving the locker room and adjusting her duffle bag.

She walked past the swimming pool room, which she would always pass by whenever going to the lobby. The walls were just glass, so she could see the swimmers in the water. Peridot hadn't seen Lapis in the showers, so maybe she was still swimming. Her eyes roamed the large tiled room, as she spotted Sapphire. The girl was wearing a one-piece black and blue swimsuit. She sat at the edge of the pool, her feet dipped in the water, and her hair covered in a cap. There were other girls as well, recognizing them from her classes. They were already leaving into the locker rooms, leaving Sapphire alone.

Peridot walked closer to the glass wall and waved arm - hoping Sapphire would notice the blonde waving her hand like a lunatic. And she did. The brunette looked up an smiled, doing a little wave back. Peridot smiled brightly and was about to open the door that let inside. Thats when she saw a splash of water and see a cobalt haired girl pop out. She pulled herself up to the edge and sat down next to Sapphire. Lapis pulled her goggles up to her forehead and wiped her water covered face. They started talking before Sapphire pointed to where Peridot was standing behind the glass. The blonde lowered her wave down to examine the bluenette.

_AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!! SHES SO HOT! CALM DOWN CALM DOWN._

She stared at the Lapis in a one-piece swimsuit. Her legs were a nice tan, and shiny from the water. Nice legs to be exact. Lapis looked alot hotter when she was wet. (Sex pun intended). Peridot gulped and closed her eyes tightly.

_Relax..just imagine her with proper clothes on._

She peeked an eye open to see what her imagination did. She imagined of a Lapis in a thong and bra bedazzled with glitter and holding a whip. Her brain crashed almost immediately.

_WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUCCK!!??? WHEN DID I BECOME SUCH A PERV?!_

Lapis looked up at the glass to see a blushing Peridot standing absolutely still. She waved at the overheated blonde and gave a smile. Peridot did a little robotic wave back before running the hell out of there. That left the two girls sitting on the edge of the pool baffled.

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

_**VERY VERY UNNECESSARY BONUS:** _

 

 

She ran all the way to her car to take a breather in there. Her phone rang the song Steven sung her and she picked it up. "H-H-Hello?" She slapped her thigh in anger from stuttering.

 

"Heeeeyyy!! Yo P, I found this glitch in Overwatch to make Tracer completely naked! I'll send you a pic! Just look at her boobies when she runs! And Pearl loves it whenever-" Peridot hung her phone up almost immediately, not wanting anymore dirty thoughts to enter her mind. She threw the phone to the passenger seat and sighed.

She knew exactly why she imagined Lapis wearing what some sadistic stripper would wear. This was a stage in having a hardcore crush. 

Stage one: Realizing you have feelings for this person. Check.

Stage two: Trying to avoid these feelings, but end up embracing it. Check.

Stage three: Daydreams or wetdreams or dreams in general about your crush. Check? Not the wet dreams though.

Stage four: Cry after realizing the person you like doesn't like you back. Then become a lonley cat lady living in Jersey in a jacked up apartment with a husband you don't love named Harold. Still waiting for this to be checked.

 Peridot whined in frustration and started the car. She shook her head and clenched her fist with DETERMINATION. She was in the middle of stage three, and wasn't about to hit that lowkey stage four. Peridot was about to shift the gears into drive, but heard a buzzing from her phone. She leaned over to grab it and opened the picture message Amethyst sent her.

Incoherent screaming could be heard in the parking lot. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahahahah!!! I was laughing so hard writing the bonus!  
> I also took some advice from a fellow reader who gave me incredible encouragement last chapter. Special thanks to you mate!
> 
> Btw Should I make a tumblr blog for my fanfic stories?
> 
> And if any of you are wondering how tall Peridot is...she's like 5'8 or 5'9.  
> Lapis is kinda around 5'5 or 5'6  
> And Jasper is fucking 6'5  
> -Kpala


	8. Happy Fucking Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bad birthday party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHAHAHA FINALLY AN UPDATE!
> 
> Busy with school, so updates might be once a week. Same goes for my other Lapidot story i've been working on!
> 
> Agh this chapter is crappy sorry for that. Things are gonna get a little more intense henceforth in this fanfic.

Peridot paced the parking lot, her left hand occupied by a phone held near her ear. The other hand ran swiftly through her short blonde locks of hair, gripping onto the roots. "What do you mean you took my car?!" She yelled into the device. 

"I just need it for tonight, Per! I gotta pick up some buddies," Jasper on the other line spoke calmly. Peridot was anything but calm. The girl continued pacing the lot, staring at the empty space where her car  _should be._ It was dark out, so all that Peridot could see were the shadows caused by the moonlight's glow that lay beneath the dying trees. Her eyes shifted to the apartments across the narrow street; the yellow lights glared through a window, indicating that her fellow neighbors were awake.

"How do you expect me to drive to the Temple?" She squeaked out, trying not to disturb anymore of the cranky people that lived near. She waited a couple moments--only to be given an unpleasant response.

"Just use Harvey."

"What?!" Peridot strained her yell, glancing around to check if anyone had already left their houses to see what all the racket was about. She let out a nasal sigh and shifted her eyes. Her attention laid on the 2 year old orange and black Yamaha cruiser that was handsomely parked in the driveway. A matching helmet dangled from the handlebars, intimidating her.

"Jasper, you remember  _very_ well what happened _last time,"_ Peridot rolled her eyes in recollection of the accident that happened about a year ago. She heard Jasper give a heavy groan.

"Oh come on! You didn't even hit the lady!" Jasper laughed out, slapping on the steering wheel. Peridot could hearing chattering in the backround, no doubt those being her friends.

"Jasper, I'm serious," Peridot stomped her foot solidly on the concrete, creating a click with her shoe. She let the hand that ruffled through her hair rest her hips. She leaned in a position that made her look like a sassy buisness woman. "How do you expect me to pick up Lapis on your "badass vehicle."

Peridot pursed her lips tightly, and looked at the opposite direction from where the phone was placed on her ear. All Peridot could hear were muffles and whirring coming from the car on the other line, along with mumbles and chuckles. Was Jasper okay about this?

"Jas-"

"Just ride it. Its not like you have any choice," Jasper's voice was blunt and deep. Peridot could already see the expression her best friend was wearing at this point of the conversation. "Y-You still remember how to ride a bike, right?" Jasper chuckled.

The blonde rolled her eyes and let the hand on her hips hang loosley by her thighs; a grin approached her face as she responded sarcastically. "Nope. Looks like your Harvey might have a couple dents here and there," Peridot sneered as she walked slowly towards the decent looking motorcycle. Nothing special. Besides the custom letter J spray painted beside the gas tank. 

Jasper growled, "I swear Peridot, if I see one scratch on Harvey, I will throw away your desktop." Peridot let her hand gently touch the side of her freckle covered cheeks dramatically.

"Oh no! Whatever shall I do to maintain these rules for the brutish Jasper!" She faked a horrible accent, snorting at the end of it. She heard Jasper groan over the phone.

"Fine, whatever," The driving girl grumbled faintly. Peridot heard the engine whir off, then a jingle of keys and a set of doors unlocking. "We're here and the party looks lit!" She howled into the phone, nearly damaging the blonde's eardrums. She heard a little shuffling and panting here and there before she spoke again.

"Alright Per! Love ya, see you at the party!" Jasper sounded as if she we're Peridot's mother or something.

 "Damn, this shit is super fancy," Jasper spoke to someone else beside her, making Peridot withdraw the phone from her ear and look at the blue light that glared from her screen.

She was about to tap the red 'End Call' button, but was interrupted by the deep voice again. "And Happy Birthday!" Peridot was beaten to the hang up by Jasper, receiving a beeping tone. She let the beep last a couple more seconds, her grumpy frown was now a smirk.

_Okay, enough with feeling emotions._

 

Peridot shook her head to remember the reason she was standing out in the cold ass weather in the lot. The whole reason why she spent her week's check on an expensive outfit. The formal wear consisted of a white button up shirt and black slacks. She made sure her hair was extra watermelon scented during her shower, and her shirt wrinkle free. All that time she spent in the bathroom gave Japser an opportunity to steal her car. Great.

Peridot jogged back inside the cozy house before locking the door behind her when she left. She had now obtained Japser's motorcycle car keys with a picture of Beyonce dangling from it. She made her way to sit on the motorcycle (which took a lot of time) before jamming the key in the keyhole. She switched the ignition, creating a rumbling roar from the vehicle. Peridot let one foot rest on the left foot rest, while the other kept her balance. 

Her shaking hands jammed Japser's helmet over her floofy hair and covered her entire head. She lifted the pro shield up to actually breathe air that _didn't_  smell like Jasper's sweat and beef jerky. Letting out a couple pants, she moved her steady hands on the handlebars, revving the engine.

She gulped and lifted her right foot up to balance while throttling the bike. 

_Balance is the key. Balance is the key. Balance is the key._

Peridot shifted the foot gears with her left one and swurved around in a very tight radius. The motorcycle turned to face the road, she was now able to ride this beast. She shifted the gears again and throttled the vehicle, causing her to actually move out of the driveway. "Holy smokes."

She kept repeating that phrase over and over the entire drive to Lapis's dormitories. Peridot was giggling in her helmet, happy she experienced the "badass" ride through Beach City. She pulled up by the sidewalk, not realizing the blue haired girl was already waiting for her. Lapis cleared her throat, startling Peridot so bad that she almost crashed into the car parked in front of her.

"And where have _you_ been?" Lapis approached the sitting Peridot, staying a fair distance from the motorcycle. She examined the familiar vehicle's features, eventually trailing up to Peridot. "What happened with your car?"

"Jasper took it," Peridot spoke jittery, "examining" the formally dressed Lapis. Her blue knee length cloth dress matched with her slippers. The blonde could feel the inside of the helmet get hot, or maybe it was just her. She was so glad Lapis wasn't able to see how bad she was blushing.

"So do I-um," Lapis pointed at the vehicle Peridot was supposed to escort her in. Peridot glanced at the open space behind her and back at Lapis. 

_Was she?! Isn't she supposed to sit in that thing Robin sat in with Batman on the BatCycle?_

"You sit behind me, I guess." Peridot patted the open seat behind her. Lapis looked at her a little bit before approaching the running vehicle. 

"I can't really..." Lapis drifted off, she stood right next to the motorcycle. She held her skirt down to show why she couldn't ride the bike. This was akward. Peridot was not prepared for this situation with the dress Lapis wore, or the fact they we're pretty much late for the party. Peridot watched as the uncomfortable Lapis contemplated the bike, and how she was supposed to ride it without showing her "lady parts".

"Can't you just cover it up?" Peridot hesitated a bit with the choice of words, but spat it out anyways. At this point if the conversation, Lapis nodded, not really comfortable with the plan Peridot had. 

Struggling a bit to get on the bike, Peridot watched as Lapis nearly fell off the other side. Peridot would have laughed, but that would be mean. "Have you never been on a bike?" Peridot laughed a bit, looking from the side of her eye to glance at Lapis. Lapis scoffed, "Of course, I have." She settled herself to sit barely an inch behind the driver, holding her dress down to her thighs.

The bike wasn't moving, but for a safety reason. Peridot cleared her throat and said, "You're supposed to hold on." Peridot gestured her arms to wrap around her torso. Lapis took a couple seconds for that to process in her brain, but it eventually popped out of nowhere. "O-Oh!" She stuttered out, suddenly wrapping her arms around the blonde' torso--surprising the both of them.

Peridot could feel Lapis's  hands wrapped tightly around her sides, and the side of the bluenette's head rested on her back. She steadied her breathing to hide her nervousness from the contact. She could feel her dyed hair tickle the back of her neck, sending a weird tingly feeling through her cheeks. Lapis's groin was making slight contact with Peridot's rear, making the blonde feel as if her legs became jelly. This was awsome.

"Are you going or what?" Lapis tapped on the daydreaming girl's shoulder. Peridot snapped back to her current universe and spat out a "YUP!" She double checked to make sure Lapis was secure before changing gears and praying that they don't crash into an elderly lady. 

* * *

 

 The two girl's pushed themselves off from the vehicle and fixed their wrinkled clothes. For Peridot, it was one heck of a ride with Lapis giggling behind her. She missed the exit to the freeway because she was too busy with controlling her excitement.

"You look nice." Lapis gave finger guns to the blonde (who was still wearing the helmet). Perisot smiled like an idiot to the complement as she removed the nasty smelling helmet off of her head. Her hair floofed up out of nowhere, causing it to frizz up everywhere. Lapis snorted and approached the girl, hovering her hands above the blonde hair. "Your hair is the only flaw."

"Stupid helmet." Peridot growled, looking at the sand beneath her shoes. She planted the tip of her shoe in the sand, burying it. She felt Lapis touch her hair, then run her fingers deeper in the blonde locks. Peridot felt like some cat being pet by her master. Lapis continued to fix the messy hair until it was in a decent style. She removed her hand from the forest of hair and smiled at her achievement. Peridot looked up to realize she wasn't combing it anymore, giving a sad look.

"Oh come on!" Lapis punched Peridot's shoulder and crossed her arms. "Be thankful that I fixed that mess on your head," Lapis said, taking a couple steps back from Peridot to examine her full outfit.

"Pearl really went all out on this." Peridt pointed over Lapis's shoulder to show the lit up Temple, people were lined up, waiting for enterance. The line went back half of the building, making it a pretty long line. All of the young adults in the line were formally dressed, almost as if it were a wedding. Amethyst could be seen standing right next to the door, blocking the enterance with her arm. Peridot frowned and turned to Lapis to groan out, "Last year, some creep managed to sneak in the party. Pearl decided to make Amethyst let only the people that they knew inside."

Lapis smirked and played with the blue ribbon on her chest, staring at the lights that glared from inside of the loft. "Happy Birthday."

Peridot snorted, looking at the nonexistent watch on her wrist, she responded, "You're a bit late on that." 

"Amethyst is waving at us." Lapis briefly pointed at the short girl by the enterance. Amethyst was jumping up and down, waving both arms in the air as if she sent an SOS while stuck on an island. She stopped when some chick tried to sneak past her; Amethyst got the whip she won at a rodeo and snapped it on the side of the wall, scaring off the tresspasser. Peridot watched in amuesment as Amethyst continued to whip the wall, sending creeps off running into the suburbs. She felt a tug on her sleeve, pulling her towards the loft.

"Lets gooooo!" Lapis exaggerated, pulling Peridot will all the strength she had from swimming. Peridot let the hand that gripped on her sleeve, trail down to her own hand. They did this while Lapis was ahead of her, still pulling her and not looking back even once. Without hesistation, Lapis entwined her fingers with Peridot's, holding her's in a lover's lock. Peridot felt her chest tighten for half a second, causing her to stumble a little bit. Lapis looked behind to check on Peridot, only to see the blonde staring at their entwined fingers. Lapis pulled away almost immediately, stopping their walk to the Temple.

"Sorry!" Lapis cupped her mouth, her eyes dilated and her cheeks red, but non-visible in the night. Peridot was frozen as well, but she was defintley confused to why Lapis pulled away so suddenly.

"N-No, it's okay!" Peridot chuckled nervously, putting her hands up. 

"Really?"

Peridot's trembling hand reached over to grab Lapis's, hesitating at the last second. Rather than pulling away, Peridot felt the other girl cooperate as well, entwining their fingers in the same hold as earlier. The two weren't looking at eachother, instead, they watched as their hands interlocked. Lapis's hands were soft, even softer than the palms of an angel using moisturizer.

"So am I your birthday date?" Lapis snorted, nudging Peridot as they resumed their walking to the Temple. Peridot was speechless--knowing that this was really happening. She was blushing a rose red, similar to the lights flashing from inside the loft. Peridot nodded vigorously, overdoing the response. Lapis laughed and continued to tease the girl until they arrived at the front enterance.

"Hey guys, Pearl-WOAHOHOHO!" Amethyst howled, looking at the two that seemed like a couple. She grinned and glanced at the line before returning her attention to the girls. "What did I tell you, Peri? We got the strippers handled," She teased, giving a wink to the steaming blonde.

"You better be joking about the strippers," Peridot growled, clenching her fists in irritation, unaware that she was squeezing the bluenette's hand. Amethyst started laughing hysterically, gesturing the two girls to skip the line and step inside the loft. The two waved goodbye before being greeted by the smell of alcohol and expensive fabrics. Peridot was unfamiliar with the room she stood in now. Pearl did so much decorating, it looks like as if it were  _hers._

Although the party attenders wore fancy clothing, the party itself was like any other they threw at the Temple. Full of drunk kids, passed out people in the corner, and horrid stench of vomit in certain areas. Overall, the party was still lit. Groups of young adults were scattered around the large loft, all holding red party cups or beer bottles. She felt Lapis squeezed her hand, looking worried about something.

"Let's find Garnet and the others." Peridot smiled contagiously, causing the other girl to do the same as well. The two squeezed through crowds of people while loud ass music attacked their eardrums. People were too drunk to realize that two girls were trying to walk past them, making it alot harder for them. Peridot's eyes were focused on everything going on, while her left hand made sure Lapis was still behind her. She darted her eyes everywhere, but landed on something unwanted right now.

Jasper was on the steps of the stairs, talking to her friends beside her, holding a red cup and swinging it around drunkenly. Her eyes were lazy and her friends were all giggling and nudging eachother's shoulders. Peridot gulped and moved swiftly passed them, holding Lapis tighter behind her. She must've seen Jasper as well since she squeezed as well.

 The lights were dimmed, making the only bright lights come from the party lights that flashed all sorts of colors. Overlapping conversations flooded their ears along with the blasting beats Sour Cream played on stage. The overwhelming search for the squad came to an end when Peridot saw a big black afro sticking out from the crowd. She rushed to squeeze past the drunk crowd, tugging Lapis behind her to tell her to hurry up.

"Well, would you look who it is!" Pearl exclaimed, poking Garnet with her elbow and pointing at the rushing girls. Pearl and Garnet stood by a red cooler wearing dresses that matched their favorite colors. The first thing that caught their eye was Lapis and Peridot holding hands, giggling at the sight. Peridot frowned at them, already knowing what their going to say about this. 

"Would you two care for a drink?" Garnet offered, reaching into the cooler behind her and pulling out two clear bottles of Corona. Lapis nodded and gently took the bottle with her free hand, but Peridot just stood there and stared at the remaining bottle. "I don't drink," Peridot lied. She glanced up at Garnet, biting her lip in hopes of successfully avoiding getting a massive hangover. Garnet chuckled and leaned against the wall, rubbing the beer bottle with her thumb. Pearl rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, giving Peridot a look.

"Peridot, we already know what you do every time you say you don't drink." Pearl smirked, gesturing her hands all over the place. Peridot gulped and opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Garnet.

"You say you'll get a hangover, but you always end up sneaking past us when you think we aren't looking and grabbing 3 bottles," The tall woman said stoically, placing the bottle on the top of the cooler. Peridot couldn't lie her way out of this anymore; mainly because they already saw her. Garnet smiled at the guilty blonde and said, "Just have fun and don't be so "uptight"."

"I am not uptight!" Peridot's voice cracked like a pubescent boy, causing a hysterical laughter among the other girls. She bit her lip and snatched  the bottle from the cooler, holding it arrogantly. The laughter went away, causing a tense moment enter the air. "Watch! I'll have tons of fun!" She laughed nervously, popping the cap off the bottle and taking a swig of the cool beverage. 

"J-Just be careful!" Pearl squawked, hovering her hands above the beer bottle Peridot held. Garnet nodded and raised her beer bottle in the air shouting, "Happy Birthday!" The girls joined in unison, drawing attention from the crowds nearby. They popped their bottles with the counter next to them and clinked the beers. They all took a swig, except for Pearl, who took a little sip like a pussy. 

"We have some cake we can eat later." Pearl pointed at the green frosted cake on the long white blanketed table. The cake looked very familiar, making Peridot's mouth water suddenly. 

"Did you bake it?" Peridot asked Pearl, taking another swig from the bottle. The ginger smirked and walked beside Lapis, letting a hand rest on her shoulder. Pearl presented the bluenette and said, "Well..Lapis insisted to bring the homemade cake. You should thank her." 

"No really, its fine," Lapis chuckled nervously, letting go of Peridot's hand to remove the hand on her shoulder gently. "Jenny said it would be a good idea, you should thank her."

"W-What? I thought you said you wanted to bake the cake? You even group texted us that-", Pearl spoke, but stopped when Lapis gave her a glare. The pale girl mouthed and 'ooohhh' and clasped her hands together nervously. "Yes! J-Jenny told Lapis to bake the cake!"

"You're a bad liar," Peridot grinned, poking the embarrased Pearl. 

"Ok! Who cares who made the cake! We can just eat it and forget about this convo!" Amethyst joined in from behind, holding a styrofoam plate of the lime green cake. She startled the squad, almost making Peridot drop her bottle. "Lets just see who can eat and drink the most!" She added, taking a bite from the piece on her fork.

This was a bad idea, but fuck it.

"Look! It's Steven!" Lapis pointed up at the set-up stage, tugging on Peridot's sleeve. The squad looked up to see the man holding a microphone, wearing a formal tux and holding the hand of Connie. He tapped on the microphone and whispered a bit to his girlfriend. He cleared his throat and smiled.

"Hi, I'm Steven, and I'd like to make an announcement!" He spoke, the music went dead silent. Everyone's attention was drawn to the bearded man, giving weird and confused looks. 

"In addition of Peridot finally turning 20, I'd like to thank her." He paused for a moment, giving the crowd of people a chance to clap for the girl. Peridot felt overwhelmed and embarrassed by all the unwanted attention, but went with it anyways. She smiled and watched as Steven turned to look and point at her. 

"Thank you, Peridot.." He smiled, but he wasn't finished. He took both hands from Connie and spoke in the microphone. "You helped me lose what Connie calls my virginity." He laughed innocently, smiling a bright smile to the crowd. But everyone was shocked.

Peridot was frozen, as well as the girls beside her. The crowd howled and clapped as they misunderstood what Steven meant.

"Peridot!?" Amethyst laughed hysterically, falling to the ground and rolling like a ball. She stopped to look up at the blushing girl and said, "I didn't know you were bi."

"Who said I was-" Peridot hissed at the latina, but was interrupted by Pearl.

"Don't worry, Rose can relate to you." Pearl comforted the panicking Peridot, rubbing her back as if she were her mom. Peridot growled and flicked her hand away, taking a deep breath and explaining everything that happened.

"So  _that's_ why the janitor slipped!" Lapis snapped her fingers and looked over at the nodding Peridot. Lapis cheekily grinned and said, "Are you sure you didn't have a threesome?"

Peridot growled in irritation and stomped a foot firmly on the hardwood floor. Lapis smiled and took Peridot's hand again and said, "I'm just messing with you."

"Ugh! We get it! Can we just hurry up and have some drinks!" Amethyst whined, finishing the last of the cake. "Let's party!" She pumped a fist in the air and shook her hips around, making Pearl blush uncontrollably.

 The girls whooped in response, including Pearl. Lars was supposed to be the "backup security" for the party, leaving Amethyst free for the rest of the night. The girls spent hours joking around, drinking, confessing, and more drinking. 

Peridot would consider this a good birthday.

"I'm gonna use the restroom, be right back." Lapis spoke slowly, her words slurred slightly. The girls that sat in a circle nodded, and continued to talk about random shit. Peridot felt the warmth of Lapis's hand leave hers, making it akward for her. She bit her lip and ignored it, taking another swig of beer.

"I think you had too much, Peri." Amethyst patted the blonde's back nervously. Peridot shrugged and placed the brown bottle on the floor, glancing at Pearl in front of her. Pearl agreed by nodding slowly, as well as Garnet.

"Oh come on guys!" Peridot scoffed, crossing her arms and slurring heavily. The girls giggled, but it died out once Peridot stood up abruptly. "I'm going to grab one from the fridge," She told them, knowing all the beer in the cooler was long gone thanks to her. 

"Try not to fall on your way there." Amethyst yelled out wryly to the blonde. Peridot rolled her eyes and continued her way to the kitchen. Stumbling here and there, she planted her hand on the wall to gain some balance and awareness. The fridge was only a couple feet away, but it seemed like miles. Her eyes hazy and her feet wobbly like jelly on drugs. Her breathing intensified as she finally managed to open the fridge and grab two more bottles of Bud Lite. She smirked and turned her heel to walk back.

Blue and white.

Blue and white hair collided in Peridot's vision as she watched the two girls smash their lips together. The kiss was hot, intense, fiery, but filled with no love at all. The kiss was cold, and unattached, but it made Peridot's blood boil. Lapis and Jasper sat on the staircase across from the kitchen, continuing a make-out session. The kiss noises were blocked out by the beat drops that played in the room next to theirs. 

Peridot squinted her eyes to see if her eyes deceived her. No doubt that was Lapis. Peridot bit her lip and growled deep in her chest. With barely any self awareness at all, she dashed back to the group of girls and sat down. 

She was silent, hoping that what she saw was just some hallucination she experienced by being so drunk. Her ears were filled with ringing and humming as she popped the bottle open and chugged it down. It hurts. But she needs this. This was wrong, unhealthy, and desperate. She could feel all the hurt leave her body like a swarm of energy from the tip of her toes to her head. Her head spun as she sat criss crossed in the group, not able to tell the difference from reality anymore.

 More. She wanted more. Maybe, she is an emotional alcoholic, just like Jasper. Maybe she likes Lapis, just like Jasper. They had more things in common than she thought.

 

* * *

 

"Pull her hair back!" Garnet exclaimed, holding the bucket full of vomit. Pearl voluntarily pulled a hair tie from her wrist and tied the blonde hair up in a pony tail. They watched in worry as Peridot continued to vomit all the alcohol and cake she consumed tonight. They had all sorts of fun and games, but it ended when Peridot passed out on the floor. She was only to be woken up by a severe pain in her stomach, and a sudden urge to throw up. 

"Bro, are you oka-"

Amethyst was interrupted by Peridot throwing up even more in the blue plastic bucket. The bathroom was filled with a horrid stench, causing the girls to pinch their noses. It was hot, and stuffy, and tense in the bathroom. Definitely not the best scene for a birthday party. Peridot's throat burned, causing her eyes to water. 

 She spit the hanging saliva into the bucket  and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. She grunted in response, her voice trembling and her expression was beyond mad.

"Here, drink." Garnet offered the girl a bottle of water, watching the girl gulp the refreshing H2O down halfway. Letting out a refreshed sigh, she let her arms rest on her arched knees and hung her head down. She sniffled and wiped her drooping nose with a tissue Pearl offered. She was a mess.

"I have a spare toothbrush in my drawer," Pearl spoke jittery, hopping up on her feet and rushing out of the bathroom.

This left Amethyst, Garnet, and the sick Peridot alone. The three girls felt guilty for what happened to Peridot, even if she would tell them it wasn't their fault. The blonde sat on the tiled floor, her white shirt stained with vomit and alcohol. Her hair was a total mess and her eyes were tired and almost ready to give up and slumber.

"You should go straight home after this." Garnet told her firmly, placing a slender hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Don't worry about driving."

"Where's Jasper?" Amethyst stood up and placed her hands on her curvy hips. She started to walk out of the bathroom, but Peridot told her,"Wait." Her voice raspy and low, her words slurred and the proccess was slow. Amethyst turned to look at the girl, tilting her head and giving a, "What?"

"Don't tell her," Peridot mumbled, squeezing her shirt she held tighter as she stared at the bathroom floor. "It'll just make her worried."

"If we don't tell her then-"

Peridot tisked in irritation, glaring up at Amethyst. "Just  _don't,"_ she hissed through her teeth, sending an obvious message to the latina to back off. Amethyst sighed and sat down right next to the door frame, tapping the tiles impatiently.

"Here." Pearl came in, holding a pack of toothbrushes and a black t-shirt. She handed them to Peridot and sat criss crossed across from her. She gave a fake smile and gestured her to freshen up. Peridot shrugged and stood up wobbly, gladly supported by Garnet.

She managed to unbutton the shirt, revealing a white sports bra underneath. She slipped the black shirt on, tugging it down to her waist to make it fit perfectly. She brushed her teeth multiple times, making sure the sour taste left her tounge. The squad watched as Peridot drunkenly wobbled her way to the hanging towel to wipe her mouth.

"Tch, did you have to throw in the towel so early? It's only 1 am! W-We could be playing truth or dare right now!" Amethyst complained as she slowly paced the bathroom, her hands behind her head. Peridot gave her a glare, making her shut up. 

"I'll be right back." Peridot told the gang as she exited the bathroom. She could sense that they were talking behind her as she closed the door. She let out a deep sigh and walked down the hallway, being greeted by Jasper sleeping on the staircase.

Peridot approached the sleeping woman, crouching beside her like a ninja. Her eyes examined the wasted Jasper, her hair was a mess and her snoring was like an airplane. The blonde frowned to look at the room below the stairs. Lapis was sleeping on the couch, blankets mountained her entire body. She looked back at Jasper and gave a sigh.

"Drunk or not....I know you still like her," She whispered, her voice raspy and deep. Her attention was caught by a girl snuggling with Jasper, her head on her chest. Peridot's eyes widened, and her jaw dropped. She had never seen this girl before, but it's obvious Jasper had some buisness with her. 

Peridot felt sad. She felt mad as well. Sad-mad. Jasper....has a knack for being a player, and being unaware of makeouts when she's drunk. Peridot doesn't understand.

It hurts alot. Deep in her head, Peridot wonders if Lapis still has feelings for this beefy stud. This was ridiculous, it was making the blonde's head spin around.

What a gift for her birthday. It was a box full of punches to the gut, stabs in the heart, and throwing up. But Peridot wasn't going to throw in the towel just yet. She was going to make sure Jasper wasn't going to fuck up with Lapis again. She glanced at the black haired girl in Jasper's arms and gave her a glare. 

_This adds another reason to why I hate my birthdays._

 

 

 

 

  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehehe a long chapter !  
> Anyways, if you're confused, i am too!  
> Lets just say, they were drunk and they did stupid things. 
> 
> In gonna do something horrible in later chapters, please forgive me.


	9. A Talk On Rock Everest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Why are we doing this? It's like Camp Pining Hearts all over again."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *wobbles herself into bed* Finally! Another chapter done! My sleep schedule is waaaayyy unbalanced with school and writing, and drum classes tho.  
> I wonder how this fanfic gets hits even when the last update was like 2 weeks ago.
> 
> This fanfic is getting juicier by the chapter in my point of view ;)
> 
> BTW READ THE LAST CHAPTER TO REFRESH UR MEMORY!
> 
> -Kpala

Peridot was wasted, for sure. The massive headache that hit her like a train when she first opened her eyes could almost give her amnesia. Her eyes blurry, even with the glasses that stayed on the bridge of her nose the whole night. Her throat sore and her stomach empty thanks to the party last night. She forgot most of the party, most of the conversations, and most of the drinking. But was she didn't forget, was the blue and white hair colliding. 

The hungover girl sat up from the couch, rubbing her eyes and yawning like a lion. The room spun around like the tea cup ride at Funland, making Peridot want to throw up again. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck," she cursed to herself, closing her eyes and rubbing her throbbing temples. She licked her dry lips, taking quick glances at the familiar room. The loft was cleaned up; no beer, vomit, underwear, red cups, or strangers in the Temple. She slowly turned her head to look at the grandfather clock beside the television, squinting her eyes to read to large numbers. 9:35. Bright rays of sunshine peeked through the blinds, blinding Peridot as she continued examining the room. Recollecting herself, she stood up wobbly, using the armrest of the couch for support.

"Steven?" Her voice raspy, being quieter than a mouse whisper. She cleared her throat, but she needed some water to fix her voice. She stumbled her way to the kitchen, letting herself take a chilled water bottle and turning the cap off. Finally refreshed, she continued to search the house, water bottle still in her hand.

Her eyes tired and the headache was killing her; she wanted to lay down again, but the couch was too far. Humming a familiar tune, she continued to venture of what seems to be an empty loft. The house was silent, the clock being the only sound keeping Peridot company. She made her way upstairs, stopping at the bathroom door and stepping inside. The toothbrush she used last night was next to the sink where she left it, and the expensive shirt she wore last night was gone. She stared at the messy, groggy, hungover girl with dark circles under her eyes in the mirror, frowning at herself. Without any thinking, she went ahead and took a quick shower, brushing her teeth afterwards. Garnet and the rest wouldn't mind anyways.

Not feeling any better, she dried her damp hair with a blow dryer, closing her eyes to keep her eyes from drying up. The whole time she was in the bathroom, the only person she could think about was Lapis. Lapis and Jasper. She switched the blow dryer off and placed it back in the bathroom drawer. There wasn't any new set of clothes for her, so she just reused the black shirt last Pearl had given her last night. As for the pants.....

She sighed, examining the black slacks with the scent of alcohol lingering on the expensive fabrics. She glanced down at the alien boxers she was wearing underneath, checking if it was low enough to be counted as shorts. She grumbled, tossing the slacks into the hamper in the corner of the bathroom, fixing her boxers. She examined her full body in the mirror, staring at the padded arm sleeve she had been wearing the whole time. It was thin and comfortable, not being a big problem under her white vomit covered shirt. She tisked, adjusting the sleeve to cover the scar peeking from her forearm. Letting out a sigh as she turned the knob to leave the bathroom, she felt the doorknob jiggle on the other end. Pulling away almost immediately, she was frozen in surprise, waiting for whoever was trying to open the door to speak. Peridot waited, swallowing and staring at the doorknob longer than she should have.

She clenched her jaw and firmly turned the door knob, pushing it open with full force. 

"Nice shorts," Garnet deadpanned with a small smile, giving a thumbs up to the pantsless blonde. Peridot bit the inside of her cheeks closing the door behind her and moving swiftly past the tall woman, not saying a single word.

She walked into the kitchen to prepare herself some cereal, picking out a box labeled Bird-ios on it. Pouring the bird shaped cereal grains into a bowl, she had noticed Garnet was staring contently at her, her arms crossed and her shades beamed. Peridot ignored her and poured milk from a gallon in the bowl, taking quick glacnces at the black woman.

"Those are Pearl's." Garnet pointed at the bowl, her arms still crossed as she leaned against the kitchen counter. "That is also the milk she bought the other day."

"So? She's lactose and tolerant. What's the point of her eating cereal," Peridot reponded harshly through her teeth, pouring more milk in the bowl than she intended. She clicked her tounge in annoyance, twisting the milk cap back on and placing a metal spoon in the bowl.

Garnet adjusted her glasses and stood up straighter. "You're acting strange." A long pause was held between her two sentences as she contemplated the milk gallon. "You saw her with Jasper, right?"

Peridot nearly dropped the spoon of cereal in her hand, stuffing it in her mouth before she could. "Who?" Peridot looked down at the bowl, playing around with the cereal grains that floated on the milk.

"She was drunk, Peridot," Garnet started showing a little emotion, but not enough to convince Peridot. Moments of silence past, the only noises came from Peridot chewing the very bland cereal in a slow pace. She closed her eyes and shrugged, her eyebrows raised, showing she didn't really care.

"It's obvious you're jealous." Garnet pulled down her shades, revealing blue and brown eyes. Peridot rolled her eyes, sipping the milk from the plastic bowl and wiping off the milk moustache. 

"I don't recall anything you are explaining to me, Garnet," she lied, in hopes of the tall woman to fall for it. But as always, Garnet never falls for those bluffs. She gave a smirk, looking down at the floor and back at Peridot.

"You know what I mean. I saw you staring at those two last night, and that expression on your face said it all," Garnet said smugly, and the grin on her face grew even wider. Peridot blushed, rubbing her cheeks and knitting her eyebrows.

"You see everything, Garnet," the blonde mumbled, her eyes remained to the side.

"Yes, I do. What I also saw, was Lapis crying after the party." Garnet's smile faded, turning into a serious expression. She adjusted her shades again, placing both hands on the counter firmly. Peridot's eyebrows raised, but her eyelids still lazy from exhaustion. "Why?" 

Garnet shrugged, giving the blonde a nice smile. "Go ahead and ask her." She pointed at the window behind her with her thumb, tilting her head to the side. Peridot peeked over the woman's shoulder and squinted her eyes to look out of the window. The beach, sand, waves, water, seagulls, and Lapis. The blue haired girl was sitting on a huge boulder, her back faced Peridot's view. Her head was messy in the wind, and her shirt and sweatpants ruffled as well. Peridot sighed, placing the bowl in the sink and turning the faucet on.

"I'll do the dishes." Garnet pulled the blonde away from the sink, pushing her out of the kitchen and in front of the screen door. Peridot struggled out of her grip, but found herself locked outside of the loft. Garnet whispered 'good luck' to the girl before slamming the door behind her, making Peridot wince of the sudden action. She gulped, rubbing her eyes and squinting them to adjust to the new lighting. It was sunny, but it was cold and windy as well. That's some weird ass weather.

"Stupid Garnet, cruddy Bird-ios, dumb Pearl, ignorant Amethyst," Peridot continued mumbling insults as she made her way down the porch stairs to take a step on the wooden sidewalk. Peridot walked all the way around the house to see the huge boulder that Lapis sat on, seeing that it was even bigger than she thought. "Oh what the..." Peridot drifted off as she examined the towering rock, estimating how tall it was. It was like a fucking hill, with ledges to step on and even smaller rocks below it. She could spot blue hair popping up from the top, no doubt it was Lapis. 

"Of all places, she had to go up a rock?" Peridot scoffed to herself, pulling her shorts up and stretching her triceps. She placed her hand on a ledge of the rock, then her right foot. Her left hand, then foot. She gulped and continued the extremely slow pace of climbing up the gigantic piece of literal mountain. Right foot, left foot, now go even slower, she kept her body lowered as she moved forward. She knew that balance was the ultimate key. Her hands trembled as she reached on the ledge that would bring her up to the top.

She strained as she pulled half off her body up to the top, kicking her legs to bring her lower body up as well. Her hands and knees on the floor as she tried to catch her breath from all that morning exercise. She used a knee to push herself up, standing up wobbly and glancing in front of her. Lapis hadn't noticed Peridot busted her ass to climb fucking Rock Everest just to talk to her, making the blonde somewhat frustrated. A groan escaped her mouth, drawing attention from the bluenette away from her.

"Peridot?" She turned her body almost completely, her legs still hung off the edge.

"No fucking shit, I'm Pearl," Peridot mumbled, flattening out her wrinkled shirt and pulling her "pants" up. Lapis giggled to her sarcasm, but Peridot showed the opposite.

"Pearl doesn't climb boulders, nor does she wear alien boxers," Lapis snorted, pointing at the blonde's odd choice of underwear. Peridot blushed, but crossed her arms to make herself more formal.

"These are shorts," Peridot corrected the girl, giving a brassy tone. Lapis grinned, turning her head back and responding, "Sure they are."

The  blonde clenched her jaw and rocked herself as she stood, unsure of what to do. "How was last night?" Peridot strained herself to stop yelling, yet it came out bitterly. 

"I had fun," she responded satisfied, kicking her hanging legs. 

"You sure look like you did," Peridot scoffed in a mumble, furrowing her eyebrows. She was glad Lapis couldn't spot her ridicule, but it still made the blonde frustrated that she didn't get the obvious message. 

"Why are you even up here? It's early in the morning, not to mention the freezing wind." Peridot rubbed her goosebump covered arm, glancing around the beach below her. The ocean tide was low beneath them as it washed along the clean shore. A large boat can be seen afar, holding a huge fish net and crane. 

"It's nice up here," Lapis responded simply, relaxing all the tense muscles in her body. Peridot frowned, oppposing the girl's thought. She shivered and paced the rock very slowly, making sure she wouldn't trip or anything. She had to admit, the beach scenery was quite relaxing--just a little bit. The wind blew through her hair, exposing her forehead and making it cold. She quickly patted in back down, glancing at Lapis, who had been watching her the whole time. Lapis but her lip, looking back at the sailing boat, then back at Peridot. "I'm sorry."

The blonde stopped pacing, her facial expression frozen in a blank stare. "For what?" She pretended she didn't know what she apologized for, but as always, her bluffs never work.

"You know what I mean," Lapis drifted off into a quieter voice as guilt flooded her mien. "I saw you get a shit ton of beers last night from the fridge."

Peridot recalled last night as rowdy, drunk, stupid, loud, and painful. What she didn't recall, was getting more than two bottles or cans. It might've been worse than she thought it was.

"Look, I don't want any of  _this_ turning into a Camp Pining Hearts episode, so stop being so cheesy and just spit it out," Peridot grumbled harshly, kicking a pebble off from the giant rock and watching it fall down. Lapis was perplexed by what Camp Pining Hearts was, but Peridot understood since she never mentioned anything about those decade old VHS tapes.

"I mean, so what if Jasper and I made out like a sex tape," Lapis mumbled, putting her knees up  to her chest and hugging it tightly. She turned her whole body to face the ocean once again.. "It never meant anything anyways since the very fucking beginning." Her harsh voice scared Peridot just a little bit, but she remained confident.

"You saw her, right? The girl?" Peridot sat down a couple feet behind Lapis criss crossed. 

"Yes, and she's also a good for nothing slut in my algebra class." Her tone deepened even more, as if a dark aura consumed her. Peridot tilted her head a bit sideways, trying to catch a glimpse of Lapis's profile. The blonde girl sighed, twiddling her thumbs like a thumb war.

"Well, I get it, you know. The person you like--or used to like, goes off to some other girl while you watch from behind," Peridot sounded hurt, relating to Lapis.

"And how would you know that?" Lapis asked bitterly, giving her a side look. Peridot knitted her eyebrows, picking up a decent sized rock and sent it tumbling down the side of the rock she sat on. 

"Oh.." Lapis murmured, watching Peridot continue her rock massacre. "I guess we finally found something in common, huh?" Lapis gave an empty chuckle, pressing her palm against her forehead. The wind was all the possible noise for the two, leaving them in a calming yet awkward silence.

"I'm just a waste of your time, aren't I?" Lapis's morose killed the atmosphere, making Peridot turn her head quickly around. She was unable to see what expression she was wearing, but Peridot could already sense what it was. A seagull landed beside Peridot, startling her, but she shooed it away with the flick of a wrist.

"I mean, just look at me! I'm a emotional wreck with no fixed address, working a cruddy job, going around destroying my relationships!" She cried out, gesturing her hands all over the place. Peridot gulped, darting her eyes everywhere on Lapis, worried about how she was handling this. The blunette stopped, sighing and hanging her head down.

"I don't mind if you waste my time," Peridot scooted up to sit beside Lapis, seeing that tears were flooding the corners of her eyes. The blonde made a straight line out of her mouth, unsure what to do. Lapis seemed to feel better just a bit, after giving the girl a slight smirk. Peridot blushed heavily, looking off to the side as she wiped the tear that streamed down Lapis's cheek with her thumb.

Peridot hesitated as she said, "That's enough crying, Lazuli. Y-You could really do me a favor if you smile." Peridot hated herself for saying such soap opera-like things, but she felt a heaviness lift from her chest when she did.

Lapis snorted, soon turning into a handful of chuckles. Peridot was confused, retracting her hand from the girl's face. "You really  _are_ a dork," she grinned, wiping the tears from her own face. Peridot blushed, filled with irritation and confusion. But, she was still happy that Lapis was able to smile. 

Lapis's laughing died out as she gave Peridot a smirk, nudging her in the arm. "But a cute one, too."

Peridot returned an awkward expression with the red tint on her freckled cheeks. "You're not the only emotional wreck here, you know," Peridot sighed, scratching her thumb against the palm of her hand, tracing the lines on her rough hand.

Lapis sputtered out a laugh, disbelieving the girl. "What's wrong with _you?_ You're having the time of your life with a stable online job, best friend, and a possible sport career!" Lapis named all the good things Peridot had going in her life, saying it with envy. 

"Yeah, I guess it's pretty great." A short pause was given as Peridot couldn't keep her eyes off the seagull trying to land in her hair. She shooed it away, returning to the conversation with morose. "But I never really had any intention for any of  this before I ran away from home."

"You ran away?"

Peridot hummed in response, tugging her padded arm sleeve to her a comfort spot. "You know Diamond Technology, right? Well, my mother owns the company, and she plans on hiring me to work alongside her once I graduate," Peridot whispered in a deep tone. Peridot gulped, feeling a lump in her throat. She ignored it, continuing with her story.

"I ran away my sophomore year to move in with Pearl in her apartment since she lived alone, but a couple weeks after staying there, I got a call from my mother saying dad got sick. I didn't believe my mother because she pulled so many tricks like this before, so I ignored the call and stayed in Beach City. It wasn't until the end of senior year was when I got a call from the hospital asking if I was related to Liam Diamond, and was informed that he passed away due to heart failures. I..." Peridot drifted off, her voice grew smaller in smaller, turning into cracks. She gulped, and remained stable.

"I graduated high school and visited my father's grave a couple days after I received the call." Peridot inhaled air to catch her breath, letting out a nasal sigh. "And now...I'm just a stupid cloddy dumb-dumb who wasn't even able to say goodbye to her father," Peridot scoffed, her ears and cheeks turned red, as well as her nose and eyes. She sniffled, embarrassed that she was acting like this after she decided to tell Lapis her 'oh so emotional' story.

"I should have stayed in that miserable city," Peridot mumbled, rubbing her strained eyes she still had from the hangover.

"No," Lapis told her simply. Peridot tilted her head like a confused dog, asking, "What?"

"If you would have stayed there,  you wouldn't have moved in with Jasper. You wouldn't have met me, or Sapphire! You wouldn't have helped Steven lose his v-card!"

Peridot chuckled, appreciating the blue haired girl's comfort. Yet, it still wouldn't change the regrets that swam deep in her chest, lingering there forever.

"If you stayed in that rat infested city, I bet I would be more of a mess than I already am," Lapis's gave a small frown, twiddling the strings on her sweatpants around her finger. 

"What did I ever do  to help you stop from becoming a bum?" Peridot asked with disbelief, watching the seagull that attacked her meet another seagull on the beach.

"Let's take right now for an example," Lapis snapped her finger, pointing at the rock they sat on. "You climbed this rock just to talk to me! I mean, who wants to talk to  _me!?_ "

"You're not _that_ bad," the blonde "complimented" the girl, speaking truthfully in every single manner. "And _I_ would obviously."

"Exactly, Peridot! So just..." Lapis blinked, darting her eyes everywhere as she drifted off from her sentence.

"So just what?"

Lapis sighed nasally, scooting herself upwards to sit directly in front of Peridot, face to face. Confused of her sudden actions, Peridot began to stand up, but was pulled back down by the wrist. "Lazuli!"

The bluenette remained silent, but her face just as red as Peridot's. "It's Lapis."

Peridot clicked her tongue in irritation, tilting her head to glance at the seagulls take off into the East. She opened her mouth to speak, but was startled by two arms wrapping around her neck as blue hair came into her vision. "What are you doing?" Peridot attempted to shift her way out of the girl's arms, but damn was she strong. Blue hair ruffled under her chin as Lapis buried herself in the crook Peridot's neck.

"It's called a hug," she mumbled right under Peridot's jaw, sending chills down the blonde's spine.

"I know that, but why now!?" Peridot struggled, her face red hot like a chili pepper. She felt Lapis sigh, turning her head to face the opposite way as her grip softened a bit. Peridot swallowed a lot louder than she intended, betting that Lapis could spot her tension.

"Because it really looks like you need a hug right now." Peridot blinked her eyes a few times after hearing what Lapis just said, diffident on how she should take this as. She bit her lip and hesitated to hug back, but somehow found her arms around the girl's waist.

"You mean a lot more than you think, Peridot," Lapis soughed, playing with a lock of the nape of Peridot's blonde hair. Peridot wanted to believe that. The blonde girl nodded as the blue hair tickled the side of her cheek. Peridot glanced at her right arm, seeing that the arm sleeve was gone. Lapis had somehow slipped it off, holding it behind the girl's neck. She smirked, glad that Lapis didn't assume her for anything wrong or mental.

Peridot snorted, asking, "Why are we doing this? It's like Camp Pining Hearts all over again." Just like Camp Pining Hearts, but without the cabins and canoe races. She felt and heard Lapis hum unsurely, shaking her head in amusement.

"Yeah, I do wonder why i'm hugging some pantsless chick on a rock," Lapis teased, letting go of the girl's neck to kneel down in front of her. Disappointed, Peridot slowly pulled her arms away from Lapis's waist, sitting stiffly as a rock. She looked down at the alien boxers she wore, frustrated that she just  _had_ to be in underwear during a moment like this. 

She could feel Lapis's gaze on her as she continued to avoid it, too anxious to do anything after that contact. Lapis smirked giving a boop on the girl's nose, succeeding on getting on her nerves. "You get flustered easily, don't you?" she teased, poking the girl's cheeks gently. Peridot's reflexed kicked in as she swatted the girl's hand away, giving a mean look. Lapis snickered as she stood up, holding a hand up to pull Peridot up as well. She accepted gladly, but was too embarrassed to thank her.

Lapis handed back Peridot's arm sleeve without any further conversation; the blonde girl gladly took it, staring at it in her hand for a while. She bit her lip and folded it, holding it tight in her fist. "I..don't need to wear it anymore," she hesitated, having the urge to put it back on to hide the shameful scars. Yet, she wanted to forget she ever had those, she wanted to be more confident without those. Lapis nodded, giving her a cheerful smile that could replace Mr. Smiley.

Peridot felt her heart flutter, almost as if it was about to burst out of her chest to sing some Lionel Richie song. Her eyes trailed Lapis as the girl gestured Peridot to climb down--and of course, Peridot followed

They both made their way down what they now call "Rock Everest". Peridot was ambushed by a flock of seagulls on their way down, leaving Lapis as the one to shoo them away. She teased her the rest of the way down, but Peridot didn't care. She wanted to enjoy every single second of the adrenaline and excitement rushing through veins, making her heart go crazy. She wanted to enjoy every single second Lapis spoke on their way day, with it being music to her ears. She wanted to enjoy every single millisecond as they walked back into the Temple, hand in hand. 

Peridot didn't know if they had something between them now, nor did she have any purpose to rush to have one. Truthfully, she didn't care. She just wanted to moments like these--with a person that understands her. And she wants to be someone that understands Lapis.

 

 

 

What she didn't know as well, were the two hazel eyes that watched them at a distance.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAHHHHHHHHHH IM GONNA DO SOMETHING HORRIBLE AND I MIGHT REGRET IT BUT WHO CAAAAARRREEESSS!
> 
> Anyways, just to clear things a bit better, Pearl and Peridot were roommates, yes, and Pearl is older than Peridot. And The Temple IS NOT anybody's personal house or address, it is a hangout space.  
> Ahahaha i searched up top Canadian names and the name Liam was the most common one for males. And yes, Peridot is Canadian. GOOOO CANADA!
> 
> *WAVES MAPLE LEAF FLAG IN THE AIR AND DANCES IN A FARM OF GEESE WHILE SAYING 'EH' repeatedly*
> 
> sorry 4 being so stereotypical 
> 
> -Kpala


	10. Cuddling in the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'm here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry guys, i'm not finishing this fanfic at a cliffhanger.  
> This chapter is short, and i'm terribly sorry for long updates.  
> My fingers are numb from guitar lessons and school is killing me inside out.  
> Please bare with me and this shitty fanfic XD  
> And damn that "Mindful Education" episode made me cry waterfalls.  
> -Kpala

Peridot slowly opened her eyelids, groaning as she lifted her head up from the couch. An open bag of Doritos was casually plopped on her lap, and a blanket with the picture of Michael Jordan blanketed her up to her waist. She rubbed her eyes and turned her head to look at the television, seeing a familiar logo and theme song displaying on the screen.

" _Last time, on Camp Pining Hearts-"_ a feminine voice spoke from the TV as the old TV show logo faded off to zoom in dramatically on a character. Peridot watched the screen of the campers talking and arguing, recalling what had happened the last episode. Or...the many episodes before that.

She glanced up at the clock, but it was too dark for her to make out any of the small numbers. In fact, there was barely any light at all in the house. The blinds were open, but only darkness seeped in between those gaps -- leaving her uncomfortable in this dark environment. The only light provided for her was the glare from the television that barely lit up half of the living room. Her hand crept into the bag of chips, picking out a small piece and popping it in her mouth. Her own chewing filled her ears as she stood up from the sofa and stumbled her way in front of the TV.  Her finger hovered above the power button, but she hesitated to switch the box off.

The doorbell rang.

Her head immediately turned left to face the door on the other side of the room. She bit her lip and glanced down at her pajama apparel, fixing her messy blonde hair and brushing off the crumbs of Doritos that scattered all over her lap. She slowly paced herself to the door, placing a shaky hand on the doorknob and an eye behind the eyehole. With the very narrow and limited amount of vision through the hole -- and without her glasses -- she was as blind as a bat. She narrowed her left eye to focus on the figure that stood on the porch.

She pressed her lips together tightly and twisted the doorknob, pulling it back to open the squeaky door.

" _Please don't be a salesman. Please don't be a sales man,"_ she pleaded in her mind, scared to encounter someone who would take their time informing Peridot about some things she wasn't in the slightest bit interested in.

Instead, a flash of blue was the first thing she managed to see. The more she examined, the more she realized that the figure in a heavy coat and boots was Lapis. A beanie covered her forehead, and even a bit of her brows; although she seemed like someone you would stumble in an alleyway, she did look quite cute.

A swift breeze of the chilling September air blew against Peridot's face as she opened the door all the way. The sky was pitch black, and distant owls cooed in the trees across the street. Her eyes flickered to the girl in front of her, noticing she had been staring right into Peridot's eyes this whole time.

"What...are you doing here?" she didn't want to rude, so she ended it with an awkward chuckle. Lapis didn't respond for a moment, most likely because her words were caught in her cold hitching breath. She gulped and parted her lips to speak.

"S-Sapphire invited Ruby over to our down, and that left me no choice but to leave that hell-hole," she responded dryly, her breath quivering and her eyebrows knitted. Peridot wanted to laugh, but she truly felt sorry for Lapis's inconvenience with her roommate.

"Ah..." Peridot pursed her lips and glanced over her own shoulder, checking on the television. Season 5, episode 8: was what was playing, and that was glued to right in the center of Peridot's brain. She had almost memorized all of season five, with the reason being was that it was complete trash -- and she had wanted to remember all the stupid moments in it's series.

She turned her attention back to Lapis, who was staring blankly at her own leather boots. It suddenly became quiet, and the distant snoring of Jasper faintly sounded in Peridot's ears. She forced a weak and welcoming smile, stepping aside to let her in.

"Come in."

Lapis had already settled herself in as her boots lay messily in front of the door, and her coat hung right next to Jasper's keys on the wooden coat hanger. Her beanie, she kept on since she complained her ears were to cold. And herself, well, she was on the other end of the couch from where Peridot sat. The two girls sank into the sofa, both ( or maybe only Peridot ) watching the Canadian soap opera that Peridot smashed in the VHS player hours ago.

Peridot glanced over at Lapis every now and then, just to make sure she hadn't fallen asleep on the couch. And if she fell asleep on the couch, that would mean Jasper might see. And if Jasper might see, Peridot might die. Simple as that.

The blue haired girl's eyes were lazy, yet attentive at the same time. Peridot watched as Lapis would change her seating position every five seconds, which she soon grew used to.

"Are you okay?" Peridot hesitated to ask, but she didn't want the rest of the night go off in silence. Lapis glanced at her for a second and nodded before looking directly in front of her.

"Are you sure?" she asked once more, trying to crack Lapis's shell. And again, a slow and effortless nod. Peridot hummed deep in her chest, showing obvious irritation towards Lapis's ability to be so closed about her feelings. Her blue eyes suddenly met with the green, knocking Peridot out of her own scowl. She immediately flickered her eyes away from Lapis, biting the inside of her cheek and staring aimlessly at the television that sat across from them.

She swallowed hard and sputtered out, "How's swimming class?"

"Fine."

"Great...." she responded nervously, tapping her fingers wildly against the armrest. She began to scratch her fingernails against the brown fabric as she asked another question.

"Is it true...you're moving?"

"Uh-huh," Lapis replied with a sigh, pressing her cheek lazily against the palm of her hand.

"Where to?"

She shrugged, finally making eye contact with the blonde. "Anywhere without two lesbians constantly having sex across the room while I sleep."

"Ha! Have you  _tried_ living with Pearl?! Amethyst used to sneak in through the window to recreate some porno with her!" Peridot couldn't help but share the embarrassing story, finally wiping the frown off of Lapis's face and replacing it with a grin. 

It didn't last long, though.

Lapis pursed her lips and looked back at the TV, not actually watching the dramatic kayaking scene that was displayed. Peridot parted her lips to say something, but instead covered it up with a gulp.

" _Paulette! I need you for the kayak race! Please, I'll do anything!,"  
_ a young male Canadian accent spoke from the television, Percy taking hold of Paulette's hand and pulling her close. Percy the one sitting in the boat, while the young girl kneeled on the deck, having second thoughts on joining Percy. From the side of her eye, she she could see a smirk curve onto Lapis's lips.

"This is stupid," Lapis snorted, shaking her head. Peridot was somewhat triggered by her opinion, but bit her lip to contain her waterfall of defensive verbal action.

"I mean, a fucking maceroni bracelet isn't gonna fix a relationship-", she pointed at the TV. "-just like that."

Peridot watched contently as Percy slipped the 10-day old maceroni bracelet onto Paulett's thin wrist with ease, both exchanged dramatic gazes as the camera zoomed in on the two. Peridot did find this show stupid at some point, but boredom punched her in this face and forced her to watch this set on VHS tapes she found in her attic many years back. After years of rewatching the soap-opera, she eventually got used to the mushy and very edited make-out scenes literally every ten minutes. Her teammates even caught her watching one of the episodes in the locker room while they were changing, and she was made fun of for nearly the entire season.

"I hate this," Lapis said quite harshly out of nowhere. Peridot felt this sudden reflex that made her head turn towards Lapis almost immdeiatley. The blue eyes were filled with this sort of hatred and anger, and irritation.

Peridot noticed that the scene changed into a make-out (no surprise) from her peripheral vision. Two blurry figures were smushed together as piano music began playing from the poor audio quality. Peridot flickered her eyes to the remote control that sat beside her and grabbed it clumsily. Her thumb blindly felt it's way to the power button, and with a press, the television flickered off.

Dark.

"Is....that better?" Peridot asked with a chuckled, her hand unknowingly trembling. And in the darkness, she could almost see a slight nod come from Lapis. She didn't intend on turning the TV off, but just like she thought, her stupid instincts kicked in.

Very few cars past by the neighborhood, but gladly zoomed past the apartment to flash lights through the blinds and shadowing onto the walls -- and on Lapis's dull face. Peridot had had enough of the awkward darkness, and stood up to walk over to the light switch on the other side of the illuminated room.

"I don't get it," a mumble came from Peridot's right side.

"What?" she asked, perplexed. Peridot turned her head to what seemed to be in Lapis's direction. She blinked her eyes a couple times, adjusting her sight to the darkness of the room, and the outlines of Lapis's body.

"You can easily say "I love you" to someone-"," she spoke hastily, and in a deep mumble. "- and not actually mean it."

"That-"

"Just like Camp Pining Hearts, right?" Lapis interrupted. Peridot sensed a strong gaze on her, but ignored it by looking over Lapis's shoulder and at the window.

"It's just a show, Lapis," Peridot said with a chuckle, unsure on how she should address her words. "Of course there's gonna be some stupid dialogue."

" _Right,"_ Lapis responded, and from her tone, Peridot could filter out the amount of sarcasm she put into it. Peridot didn't know why she was acting this way, but she didn't want to offend her in any way.

"I wonder if Ruby and Sapphire really mean their "I love you's'," she added.

Peridot huffed a chuckle, and said, "I'm pretty sure they do after a gazillion times of them saying that."

"Still," Lapis mumbled following a sigh. "What if, they were all lies?"

"Why are you thinking about this out of nowhere?" Peridot asked in concern, sitting back down on the warm seat. She could hear a car pass by, but they headlights were nowhere to be seen on the walls. Shame.

"I-I didn't come out of nowhere!" Lapis said rather harshly, alarming the blonde that sat near. "I-It's been in my head all day -- and I swear, I can't stop thinking about it!"

"What are you getting on about?"

 "Ugh, just...nevermind," Lapis groaned. Peridot felt a sudden shift on the couch, a bounce, and a ruffle.

"Jasper came up to me yesterday after I left the Temple," Lapis spoke in merely a whisper, but Peridot could hear it all in the ambient silence. A sudden memory replayed in Peridot's head like a VHS tape, recalling the moment Lapis let go of her hand and told her, " _I have class this evening."_

"She told me she loved me."

Peridot bit her tongue to resist the temptation to say, " _She's lying."_ But that was wrong. 

"I didn't say anything back--I just....ran," Lapis voice cracked mid-sentence. She let out a empty chuckle and added, "And to top that off, I ran into that slut from the party earlier."

What was her name? _The black haired slut_ was the informal term she had for her, but Peridot didn't mind the nickname.

"I kinda followed her for a bit, and I found out she's some kind of sex toy for everyone to use," Lapis scoffed, Peridot's eyes remained straight ahead, but her ears remained flooded in Lapis's words. All she could do right now was listen in the darkness, and understand her. She  _could_  go ahead an turn the lights on. But she liked this instead. 

"How do you feel about that?" Peridot asked like a therapist on the weekends. She crossed her legs and placed her folded hands on her lap, wondering if this sitting position was similar to a therapist helping a patient with their problems. Thats what it felt like, at least.

"I just want to forget about it, but I can't! No matter  _what_ I do, or  _where_ I go, her stupid face keeps popping up in my head!" Lapis tensed up, and as a car passed by--the headlights on-- Peridot caught a quick glimpse of Lapis's illuminated face, her hands clutching the sofa seat tightly, as if her life depended on it. 

It's pitch black again.

Peridot felt another shift come from her right side, as well as a deep sigh. Lapis was leaning on her.

Somehow, she didn't feel embarrassed -- but rather, delighted. She felt the side of Lapis's head rest on her shoulder, and an arm wrap around her own, gripping tightly for safety. 

"I'm sorry," Peridot apologized, but for what? For all the shit Lapis had to go through? For not being a good enough friend to be there for her? For not clocking the black haired slut in the nose?

For not doing anything.

Lapis didn't respond, instead, she placed an arm around Peridot's middle, establishing a cuddle -- in which -- Peridot felt safe in. Lapis let out a sigh and mumbled, "Don't say anything." Peridot gulped, her eyes darted down to peek at the top of Lapis's blue hair that tickled her cheek. 

Peridot obeyed and let the darkness consume her. But this time, she wasn't alone. Someone was right next to her, holding on to her and depending on her. Peridot and Lapis. Lapis and Peridot. That sounded weird, didn't it? Along with the phrase "cuddling in the dark" to finish off. 

Peridot could feel Lapis's chest heave slowly against the side of her own, rhythmically and absorbingly. Peridot let her arm drape over Lapis's neck, her hand combing through her smooth and citrine scented hair. She could feel her heart beat thump like a drum, a feeling Peridot couldn't describe in words other than  _fantastic._  The body heat that radiated off of Lapis was enough to keep Peridot warm from the chilling fall air that seeped through the door. She held in her breath, and only exhaled slowly to keep herself from disrupting Lapis.

"I'm here," Peridot whispered, peeking down at Lapis's closed eyelids.

After that, neither of them said another word. The two were in deep sleeps, and the heavy snoring upstairs stopped. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *inhale*
> 
> Thank you, everyone. For nearly 2000 real people read this. I love making people smile whenever I write, and that makes me inspired to write even more. But really guys, thank you, and this fanfic is not even half done (i think).
> 
> Updates may be longer, and for a reason. I just hope I don't break any hearts next chapter.
> 
> -Kpala  
> PS. Whenever someone makes you feel like trash, don't let them. You are awesome, and I don't care if I never even seen you in real life. A precious life like yours matters, and it matters because that's you. 
> 
> You matter.
> 
> Don't let anyone make you feel like garbage.


	11. Silence and a Twist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things take a turn....for the worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back! *jazz hands*  
> Don't worry all u Lapidot Hell citizens, I have plenty of time during my fall break to make chapters more frequently. I promise on my goldfish's grave that I will finish this crappy and cliche fanfic that keeps me up at night--even if Steven Universe ends. This is series is halfway done (thank god) so get ready for about 10 more chapters that I will probably make overdramatic XP.
> 
> I bet you guys are wondering why it took me a month to make this unfortunate chapter. Well, it is hard to write very sinful fanfic near very homophobic and very God loving family members.
> 
> Btw have you watched Stranger Things on Netflix? I know I haven't but it's definitely on my binge list.  
> -Kpala

* * *

 "What do you mean you're going back? Back where?!" Peridot squeaked at the top of her lungs. She wasn't pleased at all for the fact that Jasper couldn't even face her. The taller woman sat on the carpet, her legs criss crossed and her hands busy on carelessly folding her extra large shirts and shorts. Jasper placed a short stack of shirts into her red suitcase, giving a shrug. 

"Jasper, stop," Peridot said firmly, placing her morning cup of joe on the coffee table. It was  _way_ too early in the morning for her to be pissed. 

"Back to Boston," Jasper mumbled, glancing back to give Peridot a solemn glare. She resumed folding her clothes, but was doing it a bit harsher. Peridot watched as she placed another stack of shorts into the full suitcase, using her fist to smash it all into one side. Peridot show her head and took a step forward.

"No, you're not. You're not just gonna take  _my_ money out of  _my_ bank account and fly across the country!" Saying those words out loud sounded more selfish than she thought it would. Peridot gulped and stared at the back of Jasper's head.

"Well, I guess you wouldn't be so mad if I told you that my parents are paying for the trip," Jasper spoke after the uneasy silence, squeezing her underwear into the corner of the suitcase.

"Jasper-"

"You wouldn't care if I left, right?" Jasper cut her off, pulling the cover over the suitcase and zipping it closed. "You'd probably be too busy hanging out with  _her_ , anyways," she said through her teeth. 

Peridot didn't have the right to counter that, so she remained silent.  Jasper groaned as she stood on her feet, using the overweight suitcase on the floor to help her up. She turned around to face the guilty blonde, her eyes piercing like needles. 

"No wonder you were acting so weird when I came back," she scoffed, placing her meaty hand around the handle of the overloaded suitcase. "You didn't even have the balls to tell  _your best friend_ you were fucking her ex-girlfriend behind her back."

"What the hell?!" Peridot immediately spoke up, her eyes wide; both girls having a glare showdown. "What makes you think-"

"Look, just...stop it. I don't wanna hear any more bullcrap before I leave," Jasper growled, her fingernails dug into the palm of her calloused hands. Peridot's brows were beginning to strain from all the scowling.

"You're not leaving unless we having a proper talk," Peridot hissed, her eyes followed Jasper--who was already making her way to the doorway.

"Talk to my ass for all I care," she responded mockingly, her tone unpleasant to Peridot's liking.

Peridot bit her lip and ran her fingers through her uncombed bedhead, she was even still in her pajamas. "Jasper!" she yelled, marching towards the heavily built woman.

Jasper quickly snatched a ring of keys off the coat rack,  so quickly that the rack almost fell over. Peridot tailed her, placing a hand on the rack to prevent it from falling on her head. Somehow, Jasper's quick hands managed to open the door with half a second with ease to allow her freedom. The chilling morning fall breeze hit Peridot like a truck. "Jasper, you better stop fucking walking."

"Jasper!" she yelled, not thinking twice about how many much disruption she would cause for the sleeping neighbors. Peridot stopped once she stepped foot on the driveway; she had already realized that there was no fucking way to stop her stubborn....best friend.She shivered when the wind blew heavily into her face. She watched as Jasper opened the driver side of the silver car.  _Her_ silver Honda.

"What the hell are you doing?" Peridot snapped, walking over to the car and placing a hand on the door before Jasper could step inside. The taller woman gave her a look as if she was dumb. 

"How else am I supposed to bring the luggage?" Jasper asked as she tossed her heavily loaded bag inside, causing the vehicle to shake. The luggage hit the window, but Peridot didn't have a care in the world of it cracked.

"You're not just gonna-"

"Watch me," Jasper cut her off with a harsh tone, shoving Peridot's hand off the door. Peridot felt like a statue the second Jasper let herself get comfortable in the car. She slammed the door shut with no hesitation, not gaining eye contact with Peridot sister since then. Peridot watched with a dropped jaw as her best friend ( maybe not anymore ) as she started the engine. She heard the shifting of the gears, and an adjustment of a seat before Jasper backed out of the driveway.

Before she knew it, Jasper was gone.

Her own shaking breath was the only thing she could hear right then. The cold atmosphere burned her nose, but the burning blood kept the rest of her face hot. She groaned, turning around and shuffling her way back into the house quickly. She stopped by the doorway, and landed her eyes on the keychain of Beyoncé that hung mockingly on the rack. She licked her lips, and without any thought, grabbed the keys of the rack -- causing it to tumble down.

* * *

 

 Lapis stared blankly at the chalkboard, reading all these variables, brackets, and other college shit she found as nonsense. Beside her was Amethyst, who was on the brink of falling asleep in the most uncomfortable position in a chair. On her left was some random girl with brown hair and glasses.  She hadn't seen Peridot since last week, and for the first time, that worried her just a bit. She had also noticed that neither Sapphire  _or_ Pearl showed up to class.

"Amethyst," she whispered to the girl, knocking her out of a daze.

"Oh, sup." Amethyst rubbed her eyes and turned to face her.

"Where are the others?" Lapis asked, looking around the full classroom to make sure she wasn't just in need of glasses.

Amethyst yawned and shrugged saying, "Haven't seen them on their way here, so maybe they're just late."

"Are you okay? You have bags under your eyes." The dark circles under Amethyst's eyes made her wonder if she had been studying. She wouldn't be surprised since they were college students after all. #Relatable.

"Oh, these?" Amethyst pointed to them and laughed. "These are what you get if you have some  _fun_ all night," she chuckled.

Lapis mouthed "okay" as she slowly turned her head forward. Amethyst laughing was just making the redness on her cheeks burn hotter.

"But I think I overheard Pearl on the phone this morning while I was still sleeping," Amethyst spoke again with again on her face. She shrugged and added, "I dunno, maybe something urgent came up."

"And she didn't tell  _you_ what happened?"

"Well..uh..I dunno, really," Amethyst spoke unsurely, but rubbing the back of her neck. "She tried waking me up, but I just fell back asleep."

"So reliable," Lapis joked, rolling her eyes.

"Like I said, I was exhausted from last night."

Lapis shrugged and discontinued their odd conversation until a phone rang. The ringtone was the exact same as Peridot's, the one with Steven singing. Amethyst groaned and dug in her backpack after the professor gave her a look. She smirked at her phone and said, "Speak of the devil."

"Yo, Professor, uh...I gonna step out for a sec," she blurted hastily, getting up from her seat and walking to the doorway. She gave an awkward grin to the unimpressed professor before leaving. She stood right outside the door, barely in Lapis's view. 

She grinned as she spoke in what Lapis heard as mumbles. Lapis glanced every now and then from her nonsense scribbled notebook to look at Amethyst. There was a long moment where she wouldn't say anything at all. Amethyst stood still by the doorway like a statue, but her expression began to change. Within seconds, her wide playful grin turned upside down; her eyebrows wrinkled an her body signs drastically altered. Lapis couldn't quite make out what Amethyst was saying in response due to the fact her lips were moving too quickly. She started to become...angry.

The girl met eyes with Lapis in a long, worrying, and tense stare. She nodded vigorously to whatever she was hearing on her device before speedily slipping her phone in her back pocket and walking back into the class.

"What's wrong-"

Amethyst gripped onto Lapis'a wrist, not too hard, but not in Lapis's favor. She flinched in reflex, but refrained from pulling away once she had noticed how serious she looked.

"We need to go now," Amethyst said quickly in a low whisper.

"Okay." Lapis knew that something was wrong, and that there was no time to be asking questions like in those cliche movies. 

Lapis packed her items, not caring if her notebook would get pummeled under the tons of books she piled above it. The whole time she was preparing, Amethyst had grown anxious. Her foot wouldn't stop tapping and her eyes darted all over the classroom. "Come on!" she groaned impatiently.

Lapis pursed her lips and swung the backpack around her shoulder, not minding if the zipper was half open. The two girls sped walked through  the long hallways, each step feeling like they were going a hundred miles and hour. Surprisingly, Amethyst's short legs managed to keep herself ahead, not going behind Lapis even once before they reached the exit.

If she is willing to do something like that, it  _had_ to be important.

"Why are we driving to the Temple?" Lapis asked, noticing that Amethyst took a left towards the street that led to the coast of the ocean where the Temple was built upon. Amethyst didn't respond, her eyes darted all over the window in front of them in distress. 

"Something happened, Lapis," she finally responded after a close minute of silence. "I-I don't know if Pearl is pranking me for oversleeping."

"She would never prank."

"Exactly."

"So...what did happen?" Lapis was practically on the verge of forcefully demanding answers. Amethyst gave a look from the side of her eye for just half a second.

The brakes of the Honda Civic squealed as Amethyst pulled up to a park sloppily right outside the steps of stairs that led to the house. Her hand slipped when she attempted to open the door, causing her to become even more irritated and stressed. "Hurry up!" she told Lapis, slamming the door shut behind her before running on her little legs up the wooden stairs. Lapis left her bag behind and followed in a hurry. Once she had reached the porch, the door was already wide open with no Pearl to yell at them for barging in.

"W-What the hell is going on?" Lapis demanded, stepping inside the house to "greet" the two other young ladies. She halted from any further yelling after noticing the red eyes of Pearl that sat rather stressfully on the couch. Garnet leaned against the wood that supported the roof; a tense expression on her face just worried Lapis even more. Amethyst started to mumble words like "shit" and "crap" over and over again as she approached Pearl, her head hanging low.

"Something....bad happened to Peridot and Jasper," Garnet spoke, removing her shades from the bridge of her nose to reveal her mysterious eyes; one was brown as the other was a beautiful light blue. 

Lapis parted her lips to speak, but an unsteady voice interrupted.

"They could be dead!" Pearl cried out, covering  her mouth with both her hands. How terrified Pearl looked was indescribable; her entire body quivering, and her eyes beginning to water.

"Wh-"

Garnet sighed, and spoke. "Don't say that, Pearl. All of us know they're stronger than that."

She turned to face Lapis -- who was confused as hell. And with the straightest, most stoic face ever planted on the planet, she spoke again.

"Both Jasper and Peridot got into a car crash earlier this morning and..."

Lapis stopped listening to the rest of what Garnet was saying. Lapis could feel a lump swell in her throat, and a tightening in her chest. She felt like throwing up and curling up in a ball. She wanted to leave right now and just never hear what she was hearing right now. Lapis pursed her lips and nodded, but never really received the message. 

The feeling in her chest tightened, and turned her breathing into hiccups. She felt like she lost all senses of her body. Her hearing, sight, and touch faded within seconds. Garnet froze and started yelling something to snap her out of it. Pearl and Amethyst came in her view; their mouths moved, but no sound reached Lapis's brain. Lapis could only hear how fast her heart was beating, and how rapidly her breathing intensed. This was bad....really bad. This felt like she was drowning, but worse. Was this what dying felt like? Sure, she had had panic attacks before..but, this was something different from all the other ones.

This one felt like hell.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go! Hope u guys enjoyed this chapter I know I rushed a bit at the end, but right now, I really wanna focus more in the next chapters..
> 
> Oh and hey look, I gots a Tumblr now woohoo!
> 
> Tumblr: kpala 
> 
> Hopefully, I can update every now and then about my fanfics to ensure you guys I'm not dead or something. For some reason, it keeps autocorrecting to koala.  
> Okay, love ya, bye.
> 
> -Kpala


	12. Never The Same

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She comes back.  
> It's three years past, and she's different.

"Miss."

She doesn't look up from her laptop. 

"Peridot."

Her fingers stop from typing, and her eyes look up to glance at the short, chubby, and very nervous middle aged man. His eyes widen once they meet with her's. The glossiness from the hardened gel in his hair shined like a newly waxed car. 

Peridot sits up straight and slowly closes the laptop with a finger. 

"Yes, Jorge?" she sighed, watching the man fidget; he began to stroke his moustache, but rather in a more scratchy way. 

"Y-Your mother wants to speak with you..ah...immediately," he said as if he had forgotten what to say. 

Peridot looked at her phone. It's blown up with missed phone calls and text messages from one contact. She looked  back at Jorge and then at a stack of papers beside her computer. The longer Peridot stayed silent, the more shakier Jorge grew. She almost felt bad for the man. 

"Alright," she said. Jorge exhaled in relief, doing as much as he can to hide it so. 

She stands up with a slight stagger, and stretches once she is up from her office chair. She looks at herself in a mirror placed beside one of the untouched bookcases in her office. The black under her eyes still hasn't left this week, but this wasn't the first. 

Although she absolutely  _hates_ wearing tight, itchy, and scratchy suits ,she still sees it in the mirror. Her hair is still a huge fluff of blonde stuck on her head, and her glasses seemed as boring and as rectangular as ever. 

In the mirror, she could see Jorge stare at her thoughtlessly, but with alertness. Peridot ignores him, and continues to make her way to the other end of the room. She could still feel him staring at her. With judgement, she supposed.

Twisting the handle of the thick glass pane door, she leaves the room; then slams it behind her. A sudden silence to spread throughout the hallway. She made her way down the long and boring hall, passing by a man who's eyes followed her until she turned around a corner. Then a woman, who was whispering to a fellow co-worker, their eyes following her as well. 

Peridot entered an elevetor that was already waiting to be used. She pushed a button without looking. Thirty.

Even in a empty, tight, and claustrophobic space, she still felt like eyes were glaring at her. She tilted her head up to see a security camera adjusting it's lens to focus on her. She frowned and shifted her eyes to the pattern of red blinking on the numbered buttons.

She feels like she's lost in space; her heart beat syncs in with the rhythmic blinking button. The light moved up to twenty-three, then to twenty-four.

Her body feels useless, limp, immobile. Her arms remained crossed in an aggressive manner, making her look like the rest of the people in the building

Twenty-six, twenty-seven.

In her peripheral vision, she could see the security camera adjust again. And again. 

She feels like a piece of shit, like a lump of clod tossed into a lake that sinks to the bottom. She feels like a clock that just gets stuck, refusing to move forward to continue the same boring rotation day, after day, after day.

It wasn't always like this.

Twenty-eight, twenty-nine.

The metal doors opened, quickly revealing another long and empty hallway with potted plants and glass pane for walls. She never had a fear for heights, yet felt like she was going to fall if she got too close to the windows. 

This particular floor was the one that stood out the most out from the entire building. The interior atmosphere felt more modern and very fragile. The first time she ever came up here, it was absolutely breathtaking to see the massive buildings, streets, lights, of Empire City. It especially looked best at night, when all you could see was crowds and bunches of light surrounded by darkness. And the people on the sidewalks, walking to do their everyday routines and errands, were like little ants. It was a whole different view.

Now every time she is called to the office, all she sees as she passes by the the windows are endless boring buildings filled with average people hating their average jobs. 

It was actually pretty cloudy in a mid-day spring. Making it somewhat, even more depressing. Well how about that.

Peridot strided her way into an office she had spent too much time complaining in.

The devil was there, sitting on an office chair, taking a large sip from a coffee mug that stated, " _Daddy's Favorite Sport."_ Peridot didn't want to ask if she knew what it actually meant, so she rolled her eyes instead.

"Bad habit. I told you to stop that about a year ago," her mother sighed , placing the inappropriate cup on a coaster beside the laptop she was using.

 "Can't help it," Peridot said almost immediately, taking a seat on a normal chair across from her mother. A few moments of blissful silence was given before it was ruined by banshee screeching (a.k.a her mother nagging.)

"You can if you try," she said slowly and firmly,       placing a stack of folders into a filing cabinet that made this annoying clicking noise once she closed it. She then placed both her hands on her desk and folded them, looking at her daughter.

"You're not a little girl anymore, but that doesn't mean you're independent. You still need me. Especially after what happened to you after the accident," she said, looking sincere into her daughter's eyes. Peridot knew it was all just an act. Just to keep her in the buiseness. She never lets those kinds words get to her, even when she's as vulnerable as she can be.

"Okay." But that was a lie. Peridot lied.

"Okay," her mother nodded in response, giving a fake smile.

Distant honking from annoyed drivers on their way home from work could be heard from up here. 

"Is that all?" Peridot asked, already standing up to leave. 

"No, there's....a task I need you to do

"Tell me so I can finish it and go home," Peridot said briskly, taking a glance at the invisible watch on her wrist. Her mother glared at her, and visibly squeezed the pen so hard in her hand, it nearly broke in half. But she calmed down and took a deep breath out.

"Actually, I wanted to have a little talk about it," she responded, pointing at the chair for Peridot to take a seat. And so she did.

"Your father sold this barn to some man that apparently flew aircrafts and planes. Earlier this week, he died. But before he died, he sold back the barn. So I want you to go over to that rickety shack and clean out his junk," she spoke with almost no care for the poor man. Peridot's right hand began to fidget, tapping nonstop on her right leg.

"Father and him were good friends, correct?"  Peridot asked.

"Yes, you could say that."

"He wouldn't have wanted that," Peridot explained.

"But he isn't here to make that decision, is he?" 

Peridot felt this numbing sensation in her feet, then in her hands. She felt like a frozen ice sculpture, with a mouthful of shit ready to burst. She exhaled through her nose and let it all go like water under a bridge. But the water felt like a hundred foot tsunami.

Her mother cleared her throat and shook her head slightly.

"Anyways, the barn is on the outskirts of Beach City." 

Peridot's eyes widened, and her guts felt all twisted into knots. She was worried if her mother could see through her. 

 Peridot nodded, her eyes looking down at a stray pen on the floor.

"I don't want any slacking off while you're over there, do you have understand me?" She demanded, her voice ascending it's volume. 

"I know it must be hard for you to go back, since it's been a few years since...you know." Her mom's piercing green eyes darted down to  look under the table. "Such a shame."

Peridot hated the feeling of her body tensing up in the worst moments. She was serious seconds ago, but now she feels.....weak. Her mother was already sitting at the edge of her seat now, right in a slapping range.

Peridot, surprisingly, resisted.

The old wrinkle parted her lips to speak. Peridot decided to shut her up by standing up. She made sure her footsteps were heard as she left the room with simple words, "Text me the address."

She closed the door behind her and sighed. Not a normal, exhausted sigh. A sigh deep from her chest that contained too much air that might turn into poisonous gas if she didn't let it out. Her hand was still holding on the handle while she was regaining a bit of herself.   She hasn't felt this drained out before. She felt like not enough oxygen in her blood was making it into her brain. Not dizzy enough to pass out but...

Quick and sharp footsteps were what snapped Peridot out of her zone out. She already knew who's "out of style" high heels were making the noise. Around the corner came a short, skinny, and a very snobby and snarky secretary (more like slave) carrying a coffee mug in one hand and a handful of sugar a sockets in the other. Her hair in a hairstyle very familiar to-

"Well,  _hello,_ ma'am," she "greeted" with a sarcastic tone. Their eyes met in an intense and sharp battle, both trading cold and unwelcome glares.

She stuck her nose up in the air and grinned, shooing Peridot's hand off the handle and opening the door for herself. Peridot continued to glare at her back and think of different ways to get back at her until the door slowly shut.

She hated that woman, and has absolutley no clue to why she thinks she can seek attention from her boss by giving her some cheap coffee and a couple packets of Splenda. No doubt that they're personalities are similar.

Her thoughts drifted back to Beach City, and how she was going to travel just on the outskirts of it. She can't imagine how they will react to her, that is, if they manage to see her. But, she does want to see her friends again. She wants to see them, but doesn't want them to see  what she has become. 

Just another cog in the machine.

 

* * *

 

 Last night was dreadful and restless for Peridot. Rewatching Grey's Anatomy in the middle of the night wasn't really her intention. Her mind simply wouldn't shut down properly. Whenever her eyes closed, and when she  _felt as if_ she were about to drift inter Slumber-land, her thoughts just said  _"fuck it."_  

Here she was, sitting blankly in a taxi cab, just waiting for something fun and amazing to happen on her way to Beach City. The warmth of the styrofoam cup of coffee made the palm of her hand sting just a little. She wouldn't dare take a sip, yet.

Her other hand kept the lid on the cup as they drove on a bumpy and potholed road, feeling as if they were driving on the mountain sides. She looked at the man who was driving the fair vehicle through the rear view mirror, examining his upper facial features. He never looked back at her, so she was able to identify him with a large forehead, dark eyes, parted  hair, and really bushy eyebrows. 

You'll never know if this guy will kidnap you and dump your body in some alley. Might as well take details.

She took her attention away from the man that looked like Mr. Bean and focused on the change of scenery out the window. The busy sidewalks and buildings were gone, and now they were already closing in on Beach City. It'll only be a matter of time until-

The car stopped abruptly; causing Peridot to impact against the back of the passenger seat. Her face slammed against the disgusting leather. Once she was back in a normal seating position, she felt this warmth on her chest. She looked down to see a horrific sight. A large brown stain splattered on her white button up shirt; the aroma of white chocolate mocha was filling up the car. Peridot's mouth gaping in shock as she locked eye contact with Mr. Bean.

"We're here," the man said, turning around to see the red-faced blonde. His eyes were dead, and his expression when he noticed Peridot's problem didn't change. He turned back around to grab something, then he looked back at Peridot to gently hand her a napkin. No, not a stack of napkins. One napkin. 

Peridot placed the empty cup onto a cup holder and sighed. Fan-fucking-radical.

"We can go to the laundromat-"

"No, I'm fine," she said promptly, not wanting to be swindled into driving to too many places.   

"No, really, it's my bad, I'll even pay for a wash and dry." His tone of voice began to show a hint of sincerity. 

She looked up, but not at him, then said, "Fine."

"But you'll still have to pay for the ride."

That just made things  _a lot_ easier.

So instead of going straight to business in the barn, a detour had to be taken thanks to Mr. Bean and his driving skills. Now, they were pretty much in the  _center_ of Beach City. She hadn't seen these buildings in a few years. Some things never change. Beach City was one of them.

She remembers her daily jogs during the chilly autumn mornings. The comfort of having friends around every corner. The familiar taste of lime in her mouth occurred to her, and it was pleasant. She wondered if they cried when they found out. She pondered if they had hopes for her. If they prayed for her and for her to return to her normal life. If she would ever walk again.

If they really thought she died.

She could see Kiki's Pizza across the street from inside the Laundr-O-Mat. It was nearly empty, and the only machine that was being used was hers. The taxi driver was sitting in one of the waiting chairs, reading a magazine about raising infants and parenting. Peridot stood still by the washing machine, her hand  feeling the whirring vibration of the machine. She watched her only shirt spin around like a tornado, it's stain never to be removed ever again. 

She felt exposed in a tank top. A forty something year old man behind her, while she's over here pretty much exposing half of her upper body. Or maybe she was just overreacting. Maybe she just hasn't worn tank tops alone too often. No, wait.

_Maybe, this was his plan all along! He thought if he could get coffee spilled on my shirt, he would be able to take me to the laundromat and have my body exposed. I should've read more how-to guides on how to escape possible sexual harassment._

Her breath grew shaky as she turned around slowly, expecting Mr. Bean to pop out of nowhere and hold a cloth against her mouth. Instead, he was picking his nose, then looking around to see if anybody was watching him. But she knew.

After the washer came the dryer, but as soon as she tossed in the soaking wet shirt into the machine like Kobe's game winner, the door's bell jingled. And as soon as the bell jingled, she felt like a sniper just shot her and sent her into a paralyzed mode. She was completely frozen in the most stupid stance.

 Her eyes followed Connie as she walked into the department, and Peridot prayed that nobody else would come after her. The door closed, and that was it.

Connie.

She was on the other side of the department, her eyes looking ahead of her while she carried a basket of dirty clothes. She hasn't change much, just a haircut and a new choice of clothes. She went to a washing machine on the opposite side from Peridot's on the far end. She looks really tired and really stressed, like she stayed up until 3 am in the morning watching Grey's Anatomy.

Peridot was still frozen, but not in a dumb pose. Her arms were stuck to her sides like an army soldier and her heart was throbbing loudly in her ears. She was afraid that one movement might draw Connie's attention from the corner of her eye. Peridot took one tiny right step back, then shuffled her left back. She repeated the process until she was close to the waiting area. Each step she took, she made sure her shoes wouldn't make a single squeak or click. She felt like a ninja, really. Until, she realized her plan was bullshit. 

If she left the department, that would mean the bell would ring. And if the bell rang, Connie would look up. And if Connie looks up, she's exposed to an hours worth of explaining. And if-

The dryer machine buzzed. Loudly. Peridot stopped her shuffling and waited for the the taxi driver to get up and get the shirt. But no. He was too busy reading about how mothers should eat their placentas after giving birth from a magazine.

It buzzed again after about 10 seconds. Connie looked up, and at Peridot.

Peridot held a quick breath she took in and avoided eye contact. Holding her hands behind her back and making her way to the buzzing dryer. Her eyes stared at the tiled floor, praying to the big man in the sky to just make Connie disappear. Not die, but just, go somewhere else.

She could see from the side of her eye a sudden reaction change from Connie. Her eyes widened and her eyebrows raised in revelation. Peridot already knew what was going to happen next, and was counting down to the next event. She looked up and then at Connie, who was looking right at her. Tears eyed and her hands cupped over her mouth.

_Oh god, oh no. She's crying, this wasn't part of the plan._

Peridot waved simply and awkwardly said, "Hey."

_Nice one, Peri. Social skills are through the roof on that one._

"How-How is everybody?" Her voice was growing shakier by the second. She didn't know why, but her eyes began to sting too. This felt, nice to see someone familiar again. It was immense to have this feeling again.

"I bet you're all having fun. How's Steven?"

Arms, warm arms, closed in on her, a friendly hug was given by her. Peridot was patted her back and sighed. 

"What happened to you, Peridot?" Connie pulled away from the brief hug to examine the scars and burns left on her arms. Each is varying colour and size, shape and pain.

"Is..is this really all the damage?"

Peridot shook her head and took a step back. "I-I need to go now." She snatched her shirt from the dryer and turned around. 

"Perid-"

"I'm begging you not to tell the other I came over here, please," she begged, sloppily sticking her arms in the sleeves and buttoning her shirt up. 

"I can't just lie to the others! They need to know!"

Peridot tapped on Mr. Bean and told him to pay up. She felt overwhelmed. Just a moment ago she felt so safe in a friend's arms. But now the world decides to throw a blizzard at her and expect her to stay warm in it. She looked back at Connie and shook her head. She feels like a big asshole for doing this to Connie. 

Peridot left the department, and Connie tried to keep up with her. The taxi driver already started the car, and waited for Peridot to get in and get to their final destination. 

"I have to tell them!" Connie yelled as Peridot closed the taxi door right in her face. She dug in her pocket to pull out her phone, and rapidly dialing a number. Connie's face looked frantic, and Peridot felt horrible for making her feel this worried. 

Connie's shadow faded off in the distance as the car drove off. Peridot couldn't keep her eyes off the driver's mirror, making sure that some van that says "Universe" on the side isn't following her. Now it's too late to smack the phone out of Connie's hand, not that it's a good thing to do.

Peridot felt anxious, like something was eating her guts and messing with her emotions. Now, everybody in Beach City knows, or will know that Peridot isn't dead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, all of you. To those that left a kudos, comment, or simply just read my work.
> 
> A 5 month break of this series was really killing me. I told myself I'd to it tomorrow night for too many times. I'm glad this writer's block didn't get to a point where I gave up. 
> 
> I'd like to ask how some of you guys found out about my work, whether from a friend, social media, or just filtering out some fanfics on AO3. 
> 
> Again, thanks for helping me reach this point, and I hope that I will not take such a long break. Kudos to you all.
> 
> Tumblr: Kpala
> 
> -Kpala


	13. An Old Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot saves an old friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick chapter

Peridot's constant brooding fucked up Her concentration of clearing out the barn. After the  _"very generous"_ taxi driver dropped her off by a trail, she had refused another ride and told him she would just take an Uber.

The dark red barn looked untouched for about a year, considering the amount of spider webs and layers of dust inside. Thanks to the unbelievable amount of dirt, she carried boxes outside  _extra_ carefully to avoid getting her face caught in a spider web. Inside those open boxes were a bunch of unorganized plane parts and empty photo frames.

Baseball gear and VHS tapes that had labels looked familiar to her, but she refused to touch them because the disgusting crawling insects beat her to it.  

It was a peaceful afternoon, despite Peridot's racket while dropping the boxes on the grass. She always remembered to lift with your legs, not your back. Or else she might snap her spine in half and lay alone in a barn without anybody to help her. Crying.

Her dark humour made the worst scenarios.

A half an hour passed, and she came across a dusty picture frame hanging on the wall. The nail holding wire that connected to the frame itself was bent and rusted. Smudges of dirt and a layer of a years worth of dust made the two figures in the picture difficult to make out. But for sure, she knew they were people. Peridot stared at the picture frame for a while, before blowing on it like an idiot.

The dust went on her glasses, in her hair, in her fucking eyes, and in her mouth. She had never felt so dust violated in her entire life. The taste of old wood, soil, and whatever the hell is in dust was just sickening. Her eyes were irritated, but she forced them to squint open to see the picture she almost became blind to see for.

A man and woman. Presumably Andy and some other chick. 

Peridot groaned, disappointed it wasn't anything exciting like a guy in a bear costume wrestling another dude in an alligator costume. Now that's exciting.

But the picture was still interesting, just a tiny bit.

So she continued to bring out boxes, filled with the same contents, with the same box shipping company, with the same handwriting. Doing her best to keep a calm, empty, and happy mindset.

It wasn't working out. Peridot kept thinking about the worst things that can happen if she goes back to town. She can see people walking around town, stapling missing posters with Peridot's awkward teenage high school photos in the center with," **Have You Seen This Person** " written in bold on the top. A total nightmare.

She could see her friends desperately searching the outskirts of town for her. Maybe even the world if they were  _that_ committed. She had high doubts for that one.

A huge part of her wanted to just leave the barn at this exact moment and gun it all the way across the town to Steven's house. 

_And just casually walk in and grab a soda from the fridge and say a simple,"What's up?"_

Peridot scratched her nape. It felt like a spider was tickling her or something, but nothing was there.

Another part of her wanted to leave it all in the past, and move on to a different chapter in life. One that might not involve her mother being such a bitch all the time.

_And leave them worried like this? Knowing that I'm still alive? Who would do that?_

Peridot's face was deadpanned as she stared off into the wonders of her irrational and anxious thoughts. She kept staring at the same exact spot she had her focus on for the past who knows how long, until a pattern of tiny and faint pattering snapped her out of her pointless thoughts.

She peeked her head out the door like a meerkat to see the grey clouds were pouring themselves out like crazy. Puddles were already being filled up craters on the road. Trees started swaying slightly as mild wind blew south. Flocks of birds flew in and out of trees, and the boxes she placed outside were getting soggy. Shame.

Peridot always believed that rain came from the sky not because of the evaporation cycle, but because whenever people in the world get sad, their sadness gets sucked up in the sky and somehow the clouds get sad too, until they start crying. Now, it seems pretty stupid.

The clouds started moving faster, and rain began to seep in between the open gaps and cracks on the roof. Thankfully, the droplets that fell down on the wood floor was hardly noticeable.  

 _Just fantastic._ ~~~~~~~~

Peridot tapped her fingers rapidly on her thigh,  her legs crossed as she sat on the floor. She was aware that dust would most likely get all over her pants, but it wouldn't matter much anyways.

The smell of wet, dirty, rainwater infiltrated the room. It's fresh scent merged into the soil created a muddy, earthy scent. Something so natural and recognizable. The storm grew a slight bit stronger, causing winds to make nearby trees dance and the cardboard flaps controlled by the direction of the wind. 

This was blissful. Pure quietness with nothing but the smell, sound, sight of nature. No human being near her for probably about a mile away. Isolation was a blessing for this period of her life. 

The pitter patter of rain turned into hisses after a few minutes. Buckets, no, pools of rain fell down from the sky. She was in heaven.

Peridot's eyes opened, her head instinctively turned to a direction where she swear she heard an  _unnatural_ sound. Something out of order of the pattern of nature. She waited, and concentrated on this sound.

An engine, was her first thought. A faint rumble from an engine, on the brink of breaking down. She heard various sounds come from this direction, like rattling, hissing, and the sloshing of mud. 

Then it suddenly. She relaxed her body, until she heard a car door open, then slam. The sound was loud and clear, meaning it was nearby.

She crawled away, and hid behind a box. A very very big fat box in the back of the barn. Her heart felt like it was going to pound out of her chest. She wasn't expecting someone to come to some abandoned shack of shit! 

She was scared, and patted her hair down in worry that it was sticking out. Peridot breathed slower and muted it. Her entire body stiffened and grew hot. Her palms were sweaty and slippery; she constantly rubbed them on her pants.

She waited.

And waited.

The suspense felt like it was choking her. Pulling her back from peeking above the box and checking if someone entered. She was antsy, but deep inside, she had a little spark of excitement. 

Heavy footsteps alarmed her. Her jaw dropped, her eyes so curious to see who was in the same room as her. Yet, she didn't want to be seen. Cowardly, isn't it?

A groan echoed the room, a low, male's voice. He sounded tired, and lazy. Then she heard a weak sniffle and whimper. Who is this man?

 "Ya should've been there, y'know, it was great." 

Peridots cupped her mouth and screamed internally.

_W-was he talking to me?_

It was quiet for a while, then she heard shuffling around the room. A sigh, a shuffle, another groan, and the sound of a box being dragged. 

"Andy you should've been there."

She exhaled through her nose slowly. Gulping down a wad of spit, and pulling her knees closer to her chest.

"You should've seen the look on Steven's face it was like," he chuckled. "It was something that you would've been proud of, you being his uncle and all."

It was Greg, no doubt. She had never really grown a connection with him, mainly because she had attempted to push him off the roof. And succeeded. She swore it was out of pure curiousity.

His voice had become older, and raspier the last time they had a conversation. Over a span of a couple of years, she had realized the time had taken the middle age years for Greg, and had forced him into becoming a geezer. A young geezer if you could put it that way.

She grew cautious for it had been unusually quiet for a past minute. She wondered if he saw her hiding behind the box, and had run off to tell Steven. 

"What the? Who moved all your stuff outside?"  he asked as if he were talking to Andy. An Andy that was alive. 

"I bet it was those darn teenagers again!" 

Peridot managed to slip a peek of Greg, slowly jogging under the rain to pick up one of the boxes that contained antique plane parts and toy models. It's contents badly rusted and coroded, the box already soggy. 

Greg shook his head in disappointment, preparing his arms to pick up the heavy load. Placing his slightly pruney hands under the box, and exhaling sharply. He grunted, and groaned as the box was slowly being carried. She watched in horror as he began to shake and shiver under the rain. 

He blinked fast, the hard rain getting in his eyes. He spat out the dirty water that fell into his mouth when he inhaled, and took a step toward the barn. He stopped every 5 seconds or so to catch his breath before taking a left step. 

Right foot, left foot. Breathe. Blink. Spit.

Halfway there.

Right, left, right, left, breathe.

He nearly reached the door before collapsing to the ground, the hefty box falling hard on his chest as he fell backwards into the mud. He groaned loud, almost a scream. She could hear him hyperventilating, his breath getting lighter and slower as he lost hope.

"Help...anybody, please!" he pleaded, the last word only being the one loud enough to reach Peridot.

She stared at the potentially dying man, her eyes bouncing all over the place trying to think of something. 

She was scared, and took a step forward. But took two back.

She felt horrible for hesitating to help him.

Coward.

She focused on his face, dirty with mud and wet with the rain. His eyes half open, glistening and waiting for someone.

She wondered if he thought he was going to die.

She ran out the barn, the rain greeting her with a big fuck you. 

Peridot removed the box off his chest hastily, and neck if it had taken any serious damage. She placed her arms under him to carry him bridal style, and bring him into his car.

"Were gonna go back to the hospital, don't worry okay? It'll be real quick, just, don't do anything!" she spoke over the rain, trying to overpower its hissing and the thunder's booming.

_Just, don't die._

His lips moved, Peridot barely catching that action in the corner of her eye. She stopped walking. 

"What?"

His eyes opened, to reveal the windows to the human soul. An old, glistening brown pair of eyes. He looked grateful.

"No," he whispered. "I'm fine."

She felt frustrated, as if she was just gonna let him off after seeing him collapse like that. She    groaned and started walking again.

"You were pleading for help, old man. Shut up and let me take you to the hospital." She tried to sound tough, as if she had just seen him yesterday. Deep inside, she was bursting with elation. She had made the right decision.

He frowned and asked, "Now is that how you greet someone you hadn't seen in 5 years?"

"Three, Greg, it was three."

"Whatever, it's good to see you again," he mumbled, closing his eyes slowly with a grin on his face.

Words couldn't describe how she longed to have a talk like this with a friend.

* * *

Greg and Peridot sat in the back of the Universe van, two heaters turned on high with a blanket around Greg.

Peridot sat criss crossed, watching Greg tune a warm colored guitar. 

"Is it really appropriate to be doing that right after you were on the brink of dying?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.

"I told you, I'm fine! I was just tired, that's all." 

He didn't sound so sure his last sentence.

The sound the rain made as it hit the roof of the van made her feel like she was listening to an ASMR video. Besides the awful noises Greg's off tune guitar made, she was satisfied with this atmosphere.

He stopped plucking and looked seriously at her. "Everyone think you're dead."

"Yes, I am aware of that."

He placed his guitar in the corner and asked, "Why didn't you come sooner? You know there's no point in running away."

"I didn't run away, I was taken away by my mother!" she said in a louder voice.

"And you let her."

She paused open mouthed, and shut it in shame.

"Look, you don't need to explain the whole story, or look back at the past and feel sorry for yourself. All you need to do now, is made up for it. Say sorry to the people you hurt, and you'll pass the stage of guilt."

Peridot teared up, and pressed her lips together hard. Hiccups kicked in, and internal screaming became sobbing. She was hurt, and she wanted to say sorry, to herself. Her eyes stung m, and her lungs filled with tears.

Greg gave her a friendly, comforting hug. A warm fatherly embrace she had never had in her life. Advice that she had never been told in her years in this world. She felt understood, like she wasn't alone in a long time. He patted her back, as she let out sniffles and sighs. 

He left her alone in the back for a while as he drove.

Drove back home.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter! I really wonder how people are still finding this fic after 3 months. If you guys don't mind telling me how you found out about my fanfic, whether it was through AO3 filters, social media, or from a friend, it be pretty cool for me to know!  
> -Your friendly potato, Kpala  
> Tumble: kpala


	14. Learn to Heal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She was hurt. But she was healing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck. It’s been 8 months for this shitty update. I’m so sorry to those that were looking forward for a sooner update. Some important things popped up and were my priority. Think of this as an early Christmas present! Happy Holidays! Well, maybe just maybe I’ll post another before Christmas ;)

* * *

Greg's arm was wrapped around Peridot’s shoulder as she assisted him out of the car's driver seat. He had a limp, something that she had become used to. 

The rain poured heavily on them; Mother Nature showing no mercy. Distant rumbles of thunder tickled Peridot's senses, triggered by the sounds of the environment. The gusts of wind calmed down, allowing the rain to no longer spray directly in their eyes. Greg's gardening boots sloshed in the mud, trailing large footprints behind. He grunted every few steps, struggling to keep his back straight and right leg moving. 

"If _only you had helped him earlier, you idiot"_

She could clearly see fatigue in his eyes, and in his entire body. She wondered if he was hurt -- other than the twisted patella he had.

Peridot assisted him up the wooden platform--leading him to the stairs. She was patient with Greg, and she was glad he wasn't the type to complain or nag about things like this. Peridot taking one step at a time as Greg took two and stayed on one step. It did take quite a while, even thought the stairs weren't that long. As long as Greg didn't get hurt along the way, she was okay.

Peridot knew exactly what this meant. What walking up these stairs would lead to. She knew that she barely had time to come up with words to say, rather than sputtering up nonsense. She knew it was time to face what she had thought she could never come back to. Peridot's chest felt tighter, and grew tighter each staggered step she took with Greg up the creaking, slippery stairs. 

Already on the base platform, and in front of the door.

She was breathless. Both physically and mentally.

Nothing about this porch has changed in the span of 3 years. The screen door, chiming bell,  chair and table all in the same spot. 

Greg stumbled forward, startling Peridot as he placed his right hand on the doorframe. He lifted his left arm to knock harshly on the door, using his other elbow and forearm to support his heavy weight. 

Peridot placed her wet, cold hand on the door handle. She looked at Greg, his eyes closed in relief, head slightly tilted up towards the sky. He seemed to be enjoying the droplets of rain landing on his cheeks. The wrinkles under his eyes and the skin under his chin have become just a tad bit more saggier. With old age comes sags. And appreciation for nature.

Peridot’s lips smirked ever so slightly, barely noticeable. Greg grinned in return, eyes still shut.

The screen door hinges  hideously, and the door behind swung smoothly open. 

They entered the home, soaking wet. Water from their clothing dripped onto the hardwood floor, possibly causing more damage to it than it has already taken. The soles of their shoes squeaked and the lumbered their way to the living room. Peridot did her very best to ignore her environment; she pretended this was an entirely different home. 

Her only intention of entering this damn house was to make sure Greg made it into shelter safely. That was all. Really.

Keeping her attention only to the floor in front of her, she was completely unaware of walls in front of her, constantly bumping into corners and large furniture in front of her. 

“What the - watch where you’re goin’ Peri,” Greg exclaimed into her ear. She flinched and rolled her eyes.

No matter how totally inattentive she was of her surroundings, she couldn’t help but feel so emotional around here. Not only the sight, the the feel, the warmth, the smell of the home was so very welcoming. Yes, that may sound weird, but to her it was the most absurd.

At this point, Greg would have crawled to the couch by himself after the amount of furniture Peridot has stumbled upon. Thank goodness Peridot reaches the couch before he decided to.

She gently helped him lay on the couch, flag on his back. She used a stack of pillows to elevate his leg. 2 pillows under his head, 1 under his neck, 3 under his leg, one on his side for comfort, and 1 one his hip. After she had finished fortifying his pillow castle, Greg smiled.

”Geez, I might be old but I’m not made of glass,” he joked, but Peridot didn’t find it amusing.

”I’m just making sure you don’t end up in another stupid accident,” she said in a cold tone.

“Haha...yeah,” Greg laughed nervously, immediately breaking eye contact with Peridot.

A long, awkward, time of silence. Peridot sat down next to the old man. She closed her eyes and exhaled. 

It seemed like she was lost in space until...

”So, hows life in the big city?” Greg asked enthusiastically.

Peridot laughed dryly, “Fan-fucking-tactic”

”That’s the answer I expected.”

Peridot nodded, cover her face with the palms of her hands. “What have I done”, she groaned.

Greg patted her on the back. She appreciated his attempt to comfort her. Peridot collected her self, and stopped loathing. Not now. Not in front of Greg.

She sniffled. “So, how’s everybody?”

“Well,” Greg sighed. “Steven and Connie got married.”

”Really?” Peridot chuckled.

”Yeah. They’re both lucky to have each other. I’m so proud of him.” Greg smiled.

“And uh...Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst haven’t changed that much.”

Peridot nodded, she reminisced the good times she had spent with them. 

“Lapis is out and about doing her own thing. She opened her own coffee shop down near that college you used to go to. You should visit her sometime.”

Peridot’s face lightened up, and Greg could see right through her. But just as fast as she brightened up, she became gloomier.

”What about Ja-“

”Jasper is in a coma,” Greg said it hastily, just to get it over with. 

She couldn’t believe it.

”Look, kid, it’s not you’re fault.”

_Fuck. It’s all your fucking fault. You shouldn’t have come back here._

She felt numb. 

Peridot felt a lump in her throat. She swallowed, and she felt her chest swell. Her breathing began to become irregular, and her eyes burned. It hurt.

She was hurt. 

She broke down, crying. She cried so, so hard.

Harder than she has in so many years. Harder than when she lost her father. Harder than when she lost her legs. Harder than when she fell into an abyss of depression.

This was all her fault.

Her voice cracked in between graves of breaths. She wanted to talk to Greg. She wanted to tell him something, and explain why she was crying. But she couldn’t. What would she tell him? That she’s a pathetic waste of flesh? Although true, that would not make anything better.

Her feelings felt like they’ve been held in a dam and now they’re roaring like it finally cracked and fell apart. She felt so horrible, so sinned, but felt so relieved. She felt so relieved for finally releasing all the self-loathing, blame, hate and loneliness she had kept inside of herself.

She was hurting. But she was only learning to heal.

The screen door barged wide open. A tall, large male carrying two bags of groceries on arm entered the home. Peridot stopped sobbing, as she stood up abruptly. She felt ashamed of having such an ugly crying face on as she faced Steven.

His appearance just as charming, warm, and welcoming as ever. Still the young, bright and cheerful young man he was 3 years ago. Just a bit bulkier. She felt even more relief than earlier, and cupped her hand over her mouth as she broke down even harder than before.

“I got hot po-“

And before she knew it, he was tearing up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah it’s pretty short but, hopefully another one before Christmas or somewhere in January. Anyway thanks for reading and have a Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah!
> 
> -Kpala


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